Sweet memories bake a success

Online business formed to alter misperceptions of Xinjiang nut cake arising out of dispute

Adili Maimaititure had only one purpose in mind when he first opened an online store in 2012 to sell Xinjiang nut cake, inform ally called qiegao.

At the time, the sweet snack had become a subject of ridicule online after a dispute between a Uygur snack vendor and a customer prompted a fight that ended with the buyer paying160,000yuan ($26,000) in compensation for more than 2,720 kilograms of destroyed cakes. For many people, the story strengthened their impression of the snack as an unaffordable luxury.