The five-day show is set to take place from August 15 to 19 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai and will be held in tandem with four other fairs, including the Beauty and Wellness Expo and Home Delights Expo. Food Expo Pro, geared towards industry insiders, and a Tea Fair will both run from August 15 to 17. The Trade Development Council (TDC), the expo organiser, said on Tuesday that around 1,840 exhibitors would join the five fairs.
A two-day International Conference of the Modernisation of Chinese Medicine and Health Products will also be held from August 15. Sophia Chong Suk-fan, deputy executive director of the TDC, said she hoped the venue’s latest enhanced connectivity would attract not only locals, but also Greater Bay Area visitors. “The number of exhibitors this year has gone up from around 1,800 last year,” she noted.
“It is clear to see many want to use our platform to attract more business, and we have the responsibility to attract more people through our promotions and themed days.” She said apart from making it easier for visitors by encouraging vendors to accept electronic payments, tickets could also be bought online or at convenience stores. Chong added with the new Exhibition Centre MTR station, it would be “very convenient” for locals and tourists from the bay area to get to the venue.
“So we hope that in addition to locals staying in Hong Kong for consumption, there will also be visitors,” she said. “I believe a big draw of our platform is we offer a very international mix of products.” The bay area is a national development plan which links Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong cities with the aim of establishing an economic powerhouse.
Local vendor Maxwell Tse Chi-yeung, who runs the firm TLC BBQ selling prepared meats for barbecues and home cooking, said he was taking business expectations “at stride”. “We don’t expect something ridiculous with a target profit of HK$200,000 or HK$300,000,” he said. “We are just happy to participate and make back enough to pay my staff’s wages.
” But he was satisfied with the TDC’s promotional work so far, and expressed excitement there would be a high footfall. Dream Law, co-founder of retailer Be Water Mart based in Sheung Shui, said his stall would showcase his company’s Hong Kong-made popcorn with unique local flavours such as soy sauce, shrimp roe and fried beef noodles. “Running a retailer these days feels like drowning in water,” he said.
“Sometimes you feel like you are about to be totally immersed, sometimes you manage to climb up for a bit of air.” He said he hoped the fair could be one of those moments of respite. He pointed to a “basket of reasons” for the current difficulties, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing trend of locals preferring to spend in neighbouring cities such as Shenzhen where the standard of living is considered more affordable.
The expo will have four theme days. “Delights Across Mainland China” will take centre stage on the first day and introduce cuisine across the border, such as food from Sichuan, Jiangsu, Inner Mongolia and Guangdong, as well as agricultural specialities from various provinces like Luochuan apples and corn from the mountains of Shaanxi. “Happy Friday” on August 16 will be all about wines, cocktails, mocktails and spirits, while “Japan & Korea Express” on August 17 will include kimchi-making demonstrations, taekwondo and dance performances.
Delicacies such as Japanese-style croissants, Korean rice wines, and king crabs, as well as electronics and gadgets from the two countries, will also be featured. “Wellness Weekend” on August 17 and 18 will offer a series of workshops and seminars on topics such as health foods, perfumes and urban disease prevention..
