Coffee and tea chain Katinat apologized on Thursday to customers on its official Facebook page for what many netizens deemed a misguided plan to donate VND1,000 (US$0.04) per drink sold in order to help those affected by typhoon Yagi in northern Vietnam.

“Katinat would like to extend our sincere apologies to customers for communications that have led to misunderstandings and controversies relating to our activities to support people hit by the typhoon,” the chain said in a post yesterday.

It also announced that it had contributed VND1 billion ($40,981) to help Yagi victims through the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

The fund, it said, did not come from the controversial campaign.

Originally, Katinat had planned to donate VND1,000 per drink sold from September 12 to 30 and to publicize the final amount collected on October 1.

The campaign then caused a backlash on social media, with many netizens criticizing the chain for abusing the disaster to boost sales.

Some others said VND1,000 (US$0.04) per drink vended was a paltry sum compared to the prices of Katinat's drinks.

Meanwhile, many netizens hailed Katinat's campaign as the chain could have sold tens of thousands of drinks per day, so its donation would have been tremendous.

Katinat, established in 2016, has a charter capital of VND38 billion ($1.6 million), according to Giao Thong (Transport) newspaper.

The chain currently has over 70 coffee and tea shops, according to its website.

It generated nearly VND470 billion ($19.2 million) in turnover last year, The Leader reported.

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