Agrikol Owner Encourages Energy Drink Boycott Over Sexual Assault Claims [Updated]

Update: Prime Mate co-owner Xavier Lapointe-Gagner directed Eater to a post made on the company’s Facebook page Monday afternoon, suspending Mocan from his role at the company. The full statement is visible below.

Co-owner of Village Haitian restaurant Agrikol Jen Agg denounced a co-owner of Montreal-based energy drink Prime Mate over the weekend, saying her restaurant would no longer sell the drink after accusations of sexual assault directed at company owner Patrick Mocan surfaced last week.

Posting on both Twitter and Instagram, Agg highlighted the “very ugly rape allegations”, sharing Facebook posts from women who stepped forward with complaints in recent days. She implored other businesses to stop selling the drink.

Prime Mate is a company selling an eponymous yerba mate soda (akin to a “healthier” energy drink), with Mocan as one of two individuals behind the company (Vice credits him as a creator of the drink).

Mocan is also a party promoter on Montreal’s music scene, known for organizing Morning Fever event. The allegations first appeared after several women expressed concern that Mocan’s presence at a Canada Day weekend party (not organized by Mocan) made them uncomfortable, as reported on Facebook by a woman who worked the door of the event. This was reported by a woman who worked the door at the event, who posted her account of the night to Facebook, also invoking Mocan’s connection to Prime Mate. Later on, another woman stepped forward with detailed accounts of alleged sexual assault by Mocan, including the account that Agg later posted to Twitter.

Given Agg’s later tweets lamenting that others in the restaurant scene “don't want to get involved" by taking a stance against Prime Mate, it appears her call to drop the drink company was met with silence. Inevitably, some onlookers will also take the stance the grounds that the accusations haven’t been legally proven, therefore a boycott is not warranted. Though Mocan has not faced court for any sexual assault charges, it bears reminder that Agg is still allowed to voice such opinions or encourage a boycott: public opinion isn’t bound by whether someone is found guilty or not in a criminal court. That said, if Mocan felt Agg’s comments to be defamatory, he could pursue her in civil court — however, that would require the sexual assault complaints to be addressed in some form in court.

On Monday afternoon, Prime Mate announced that Mocan would be suspended immediately from his role and duties at the company.

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