The head chef and owner of Adam’s Gourmet Fish Shop have filed court proceedings against an ex-employee who now works at Greens Supermarket, claiming that he had passed on trade secrets to his new employee.

But the whole dramatic incident started with an innocent post about salmon and tuna on RUBS Malta.

Earlier this month, a very happy customer of Greens Supermarket posted on the popular Facebook page to express her satisfaction with the quality of their fish. 

She said she was particularly impressed by how everything was pre-prepared “and ready to throw in the oven”, recommending it “to all those who want to eat healthy good food in the least amount of time.”

Her post quickly got over 200 likes and it was all going well with comments asking for more information on both the supermarket and its actual recipes, but then, one comment ignited a long and fiery debate.

As more and more people came to comment, the plot slowly thickened. 

Apparently, Parkash Kunju Perath had worked at Adam’s Gourmet Fish Shop in Mosta for a year and a half, and during that time was given training and knowledge about the unique recipes and very distinctive presentations styles that the business is now famous for. 

Perath resigned in October 2016, and now works for Greens Supermarket.

The problem is that the amazing salmon and tuna that the original RUBS post was talking about is sold by Perath at Greens, but seems to have Adam’s recipe written all over it.

Adam’s Gourmet Fish Shop did in fact post a disclaimer about the issue earlier that week, so the wheels were probably already set in motion before the influx of comments on Facebook. 

This week, news broke that Adam’s Gourmet Fish Shop would indeed be filing court proceedings against Perath for seemingly passing on their knowledge and recipes to his current employer.

The prosecutors are claiming that Perath’s alleged act “had caused confusion among the shop’s clientele and loss of business”, which sounds exactly like what happened on that RUBS post that started this all.

And while the negative comments were met with just as many people saying this shouldn’t be seen as a horrible act but rather healthy competition between businesses…

… the post ended up blowing up, leading to one person making the inevitable fish pun to express his and many others’ feelings.

What do you think of this whole thing? Let us know in the comments below.

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).