Hong Kong Food festival sales soar to $536m
Samson Lee
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Hong Kong has more gourmands than gastronomes - or so it seems. For while the 8th Hong Kong Food Festival proved a success despite the freezing weather, at least one wine merchant doesn't plan to return next year.
About 200,000 people attended yesterday's closing day to satisfy their shopping needs.
Organizers Hongkong-Asia Exhibition (Holdings) said the event, which was held from December 24 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, attracted more than 940,000, including 79,000 from the mainland and overseas.
This year's sales totaled HK$536 million, up 47 percent from last year's HK$365 million.
For the first time, the festival included a wine zone, but some sellers said sales were not satisfactory.
Wine Explorer manager Wong Wing-kit said his company expects a deficit of HK$10,000 to HK$15,000 for the four-day event.
"Prices of red wines at my stall ranged from HK$300 to HK$10,000. Many consumers were not enthusiastic about our products because they thought the wines were too expensive," Wong said.
He added the best he could do to move inventory was to offer a free bottle of wine with every bottle purchased. "This is the first time we have joined this event. But it's very unlikely we will join the festival next year because we received a low response from consumers this year."
Jean Philippe Luk, director of Vini Collezioni, which sells Italian and French wines, said he was disappointed at the limited wine knowledge of many of the visitors.
"Around 90 percent of those attending the festival don't really know about red wines. They only look for cheap wines," he said. "Even though my booth was near the entrance, not many people showed an interest in my wines. That was out of my expectations."
However, Luk said he will return next year but will redefine his strategy by introducing cheaper wines.
Given that yesterday was the last day, some exhibitors offered cutthroat prices to reduce inventory.
One stall slashed the price of one of its canned abalone products from HK$100 to HK$20 each.
Products sold at reasonable prices appeared to be the main attraction for consumers.
Wong Ka-hing said he spent HK$500 on soy sauce and snacks such as biscuits. "Three bottles of soy sauce sold at one stall only cost me HK$20. It costs around HK$10 a bottle at the supermarkets," he said.