A viral bakery in London has fired a warning shot at an alleged copycat in Khobar, whose owners had built an almost like-for-like replica in the Saudi port city. “It has recently come to our attention that a bakery is operating using our brand name and logo in Saudi Arabia,” Arôme wrote on Instagram. “This bakery is not affiliated with us in any way.”
You’d never guess that looking at videos online of the one in Khobar. The squiggly logo is identical to its London counterpart save for the circumflex, which appears to have been lost in translation.
The imitation Arome clearly did a stellar job knocking off the OG: Social media users in Saudi Arabia celebrated the arrival of the vaunted London shop, known for blending Asian flavors with French patisserie techniques. But the celebrations didn’t last long. Arome Khobar’s Instagram account has been deleted, and its developer Roaya did not respond to a request for comment.