Mac and cheese shop hit with mystery shipment of 600 dips

A small business in Center City Philadelphia is trying to figure out how hundreds of containers of French onion dip it never ordered ended up outside its storefront. (WPVI via CNN Newsource)

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A small business in Center City Philadelphia is trying to figure out how hundreds of containers of French onion dip it never ordered ended up outside its storefront.

MacMart, a mac and cheese kiosk at the corner of 18th and Arch streets, received a large delivery of “Heluva Good” French onion dip.

“So you’re telling me I have 600 containers of Heluva Good French onion dip...” said Marti Lieberman, co-owner and operator of MacMart.

Lieberman said the unexpected shipment followed what initially appeared to be a routine promotional inquiry.

“A few weeks ago, I got an email from a promotional company based out of Australia,” she said.

She said the message did not seem unusual at first because the business has done promotional work in the past, but she got concerned after more emails were sent.

“As things progressed, there were red flags,” Lieberman said.

She eventually responded that she would take a sample to see whether the product would be a good fit and then blocked the email. Despite that, messages continued. Weeks later, a delivery arrived.

“I get a really nice man at the door, he says, ‘Hi honey, I have your cases,’” she recalled.

Lieberman shared the unusual situation, which she referred to as a “dip gate” scandal, on Instagram and tagged the “Heluva Good” brand.

While transporting the dip to her commissary, she said she heard directly from the company.

“I get a DM from Heluva Good dip saying, ‘Stop what you’re doing, we don’t know where this came from,’” Lieberman said.

She said the company told her it needed to conduct an internal investigation. About 24 hours later, she learned the product likely came from a third-party company that needed to get rid of the stock.

“Heluva Good dips has no affiliation with how this all went down. We appreciate the humour that all of our followers and everyone in the city has been able to find in this,” she said.

Lieberman also said she was told another female-owned and operated business in Philadelphia apparently received the same delivery, though the identity of that business remains a mystery.

By Bryanna Gallagher