Food truck claims it was replaced by copycat vendor at Richmond Night Market

Tochi's food truck and the new mochi French toast stall at the Richmond Night Market (Marco Ovies/Daily Hive | Submitted)

A Metro Vancouver dessert truck is speaking out against the Richmond Night Market after the vendor says its application to return to the event for the 2024 season was unfairly denied.

Tochi is a popular purveyor offering “Canada’s first Hong Kong-style mini French toast” with mochi. The stand debuted at the night market as a humble stall and has since opened a food truck.

Picard Yiu, co-owner of Tochi, spoke to Dished about his frustration about not being permitted to return to the Richmond Night Market, and on top of that, the business owner said he was surprised when he heard about the new mochi french toast stall with similar branding operating at this year’s market.

Yiu says Tochi sent in an application for the 2024 season of the night market and had spoken directly to Richmond Night Market about Tochi’s hopeful return.

However, he said he was not surprised when Tochi’s application was denied.

“When we talked with the Night Market about the application initially — they said we weren’t following the rules,” said Yiu. “We protested against that but took a more sympathetic route and apologized to whatever claims they made about us.”

“I think this was an excuse that was given by them so that they could have a ‘reason’ to not have us next year and to set up their own shop. At the time, the Richmond Night Market was the venue in which 100% of our small business got its revenue from — so this was obviously an important channel for us to keep at all costs.”

Yiu says the night market management told him they would “think” about Tochi’s application at a later date. We’re told Tochi spent many months following up with the market and said, “They would dodge us, or the secretary would say, ‘The boss is not in the office.'”

New Mochi French Toast Stall

Yiu shared his take on the other mochi French toast stall operating at the market this year, Mochi French Toast Bites.

This concept sells the same square pieces of Hong Kong-style French toast with a mochi filling inside. They’re served in a rectangular container with a scoop of ice cream in the middle, the same way Tochi serves its product. Mochi French Toast Bites also sells two of the exact same flavours as Tochi: Nutella and Kaya Coconut. However, the spot does offer flavours not available at Tochi, such as strawberry and salted egg yolk.

Marco Ovies/Daily Hive

“There had been many stories and rumours about these kinds of shenanigans over the years as we’ve talked with other vendors who’ve had the same thing happen to them,” said Yiu. “I believe, and other vendors have said as well, that the Richmond Night Market management has an ownership stake in this new ‘mochi toast stall’ themselves.”

Yiu said after Mochi French Toast Bites launched, it eventually switched its brand colours to match Tochi’s.

The original banner for Mochi French Toast Bites (Submitted)

The new banner for Mochi French Toast Bites (Submitted)

Yiu also added that the new stall was also given one of the “prime spots in the venue.” He also noted that some colleagues, who had been at the Richmond Night Market for over 10 years, had never been given a chance to even claim such a spot.

“Usually, you have to pay a VIP fee to get ‘better selection’ as a vendor,” added Yiu.

“We definitely felt very negative about it,” he continued. “We’re young guys, and Tochi was an exciting business we built from scratch. After seeing a lot of success at the Richmond Night Market, to have it stripped from us only to be copied (likely by the Richmond Night Market owners themselves) felt outrageous.”

The Richmond Night Market Responds

Raymond Cheung, owner and organizer of the Richmond Night Market, spoke with Dished about his perspective on the situation.

During the interview, Cheung said Tochi was not being welcomed back to the night market because of the numerous rules it had broken during its first year.

Cheung said Tochi received nine penalties during its time in the 2023 market, most of which related to Tochi’s long lines.

“There were a lot of people waiting [to get Tochi], which is great because that means they have a good business,” said Cheung. “However, the vendors beside Tochi, on the left and the right, said they’re blocking everybody. So now we’re getting complaints [from the vendors] that Tochi’s customers are overflowing into their space, and people can’t even see their booths anymore.” Additionally, Cheung said Tochi’s long lines had created a fire hazard.

When Cheung sent staff to talk to Tochi about these issues, he said that Tochi “swore at them and gave them the finger.”

“They said, ‘This is your problem. You’re the management. You go fix it,'” added Cheung.

“I had to personally talk to them many times, many times about this, and they still wouldn’t listen,” he continued. “It just is heartbreaking for me to deal with this because I know you’re successful with your item, which is great, but you have to respect others.” He also added that he gave Tochi suggestions on both layout and how to make its product faster in order to avoid these long lines.

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As for the new stand at the Richmond Night Market selling mochi French toast, Cheung said he and the Richmond Night Market have no connection to it.

“The vendor who’s operating it, he’s been in the night market for over 10 years, running different booths,” said Cheung. “So, when he heard Tochi is not going to be coming back, of course, he’s going to take advantage of it because he knows it’s popular.” Cheung then compared it to other vendors in the night market competing with each other by selling similar items like bubble tea, lemonade, and BBQ meat.

“I wish [Tochi] good luck,” concluded Cheung. “Honestly, I do like those kids and their passion and heart. They started a business, and I love that, but the attitude is just very, very unacceptable.”

Dished reached out to Mochi French Toast Bites but did not get an immediate response.