Asian American boba brand finds opportunity after Simu Liu sparks cultural appropriation debate

Twrl co-founders Olivia Chen and Pauline Ang pose for a portrait on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada)

Olivia Chen and Pauline Ang, friends and business partners on boba milk tea brand Twrl, have tried three times to get on "Shark Tank," the ABC reality show where up-and-coming entrepreneurs try to woo big-name backers.

Now, in a plot twist they couldn't have imagined, the San Francisco Bay Area-based women have a chance to pitch a pretty well-known investor -- actor Simu Liu. The irony is that it came about after they posted a video on TikTok in support of Liu calling out the white owners of a boba drink brand for cultural appropriation on "Dragons' Den," the Canadian version of "Shark Tank." Somehow it found its way to Liu and the "Shang-Chi" star invited Twrl to send his team a "pitch deck."

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"I actually wasn't sure it wasn't real, to be honest," said Chen, who posted the day after seeing "Dragons' Den" clips. "I decided I wanted to make a video because I wanted to let people know there are other alternatives out there like ourselves."

This "Dragons' Den" episode backlash struck a nerve in the ongoing debate on how someone who sells something specific to a culture that isn't their own walks the line between appropriation and appreciation. There is no business manual on exactly how to do it. It also highlighted how when someone who doesn't have personal ties to a product inextricably linked to a culture profits, it can exacerbate disparities with businesses from marginalized or overlooked groups. The Twrl founders say they hope the initiative they took moves those conversations forward and educates some people along the way.

Liu, who is a guest venture capitalist on this season of "Dragons' Den," declined to get into business with the Quebec-based founders of Bobba, which peddles bottled boba drinks, including alcoholic options and packets of popping versions of the chewy pearls made of tapioca starch. The company seemed to imply on the episode that their drink was better than traditional bubble tea and its founders have since apologized.

"I would be uplifting a business that is profiting off of something that feels so dear to my cultural heritage," Liu said during the Oct. 10 episode. He also pointed out there was nothing on their packaging that acknowledged boba's cultural roots in Taiwan.

Boba's origin story actually goes back centuries and can be traced outside of Taiwan, according to Juily Phun, an assistant professor in Asian American Studies at Cal State LA who curated an exhibit on the beverage's history and impact. The root vegetable cassava, which is used to make tapioca starch, the main ingredient in boba, started in South America. Colonization led to cassava being exported to African nations, Pacific Islands and parts of Asia.

Later, Taiwan would claim to be the birthplace of the boba drink concept, a sweet concoction of an aromatic tea, milk and boba balls. A cup of boba is distinguished by the chunkier straw necessary for slurping. The first U.S. boba drink shops opened in the 1990s but there's conflicting reports on whether the San Francisco Bay Area or Southern California was the starting point, Phun said. The sweet beverage is also referred to as bubble tea or pearl tea.

Today, boba shops are ubiquitous. Big conglomerates like Starbucks and Jamba Juice have experimented with boba for limited stints. Even then, boba was such a small part of the menu that it wasn't seen as a threat to Asian American boba businesses.

"It shows the folly of these big corporate things that think they can attract us by one thing," Phun said. "It's not just about authenticity. What I've noticed is the younger generation is they put their money where their values are."

Megan Ruan handles entrepreneur and venture capitalist programming as co-general partner of Gold House Ventures -- a fund for startups led by founders of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. Gold House has a coalition of a dozen funds that seeks venture capitalists of underrepresented backgrounds "so that you're increasing the chance that an underrepresented founder is going to be sitting across from someone who might share their background or experience when they're being pitched."

Chen, who is Taiwanese American, was particularly bothered that it seemed like the founders of Bobba were only into the drink because they looked at data that showed its rising popularity.

"He went into the business because he saw a market opportunity, which I agree with. ... But it didn't come from a place of, `I really love boba tea,"' she said. "I wish there would be an appreciation or a story or an acknowledgment."

Ruan advised it's always best for entrepreneurs to be direct and authentic.

"The most powerful marketing for consumer products comes from personal stories and the most compelling marketing is usually very personal," Ruan said. "So, it helps when the founder or the creator of the product has genuine personal experience and can speak from that."

Nearly four years since Chen and Ang, who is Chinese American, first conceived Twrl during the pandemic, they continue to work with family-run tea farms in Japan and China. Their boba toppings are produced in Taiwan, which the packaging notes. They even collaborate with artists from the Asian diaspora to design their cans. Today Twrl drinks, which include flavors like ube (the purple yam commonly associated with Filipino cuisine) and hojicha (Japanese roasted green tea), are in Sprouts supermarkets nationwide, Whole Foods stores in 10 states and on Amazon.

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An investment would go a long way to accelerating their desire to boost distribution, and thus their sales.

Meanwhile, the "Dragons' Den" episode led to some significant fallout. The Bobba founders apologized last week. The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday. Panelist Manjit Minhas withdrew her million-dollar investment. Liu posted a plea for people to cease harassing and bullying the owners.

Chen agrees that that kind of conduct and negativity isn't worthwhile.

"There are positive outcomes that can come out of this," Chen said. "These topics come up, but how do we actually have a movement of change? The energy that everyone is focusing on, I would like to recenter that energy and say, `Could other founders like myself have an opportunity at the table?"'