Abalone flurry wins over Food Expo visitors

Two visitors each won 150 cans of abalone at the opening of the Food Expo yesterday, with one saying she had queued for three days to gain a spot in the competition.

More than 100 people who had waited at the entrance rushed to their favorite vendors when the five-day expo kicked off at 10am at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.

"I was here at 6.30am and ran for the HK$1 abalone offer as soon as its stall opened," said a customer.

Another visitor, Leung, said he goes to the expo every year for offers and discounts.

"I am particularly interested in the HK$1 offer," Leung said.

A dried seafood vendor gave out "qualification tickets" for the abalone game to the first 10 customers waiting outside the venue at 6am.

Divided into five teams, 10 people competed to throw abalone models to a basketball rim, aiming to win the 150 cans of abalone. All competitors had a chance to win at least 50 cans.

The contest attracted a lot of spectators and the final winners were friends surnamed Mok - who had queued for three days to get a ticket for the competition - and Wong.

The champion pair shot 41 abalone models into the rim, 10 more than the second group.

Wong and Mok said they were not worried about being unable to eat all of the abalone as they would share it with relatives.

They said they had no idea how to bring the bounty home as they had expected to win only 50 cans.

They each planned to spend HK$2,000 consumption vouchers on abalone, shark's fin, sea cucumber and fish belly.

More than 90 percent of the exhibitors are accepting at least one payment method for the government's latest consumer vouchers.

Because of the pandemic, people are not allowed to taste the goods, so some vendors use a fan to let the aromas of their products waft out to entice customers.

"Just like buying lottery tickets," said one visitor. "I will try some at first and return home to taste. Then come to buy more if the food tastes good."

A dried seafood vendor expects sales to grow 20 percent this year, adding that the introduction of an amber code for inbound travelers will not affect business.

The exhibition industry said amber-code holders pose a higher risk when taking public transportation or entering malls than taking part in exhibitions as it urged the government to provide a clear schedule on abolishing the hotel quarantine.

Sources said authorities are considering adjusting the exhibition restriction on amber code holders, but are unlikely to lift the limitation completely.

On a radio program, Lee Chi-sang, director of an exhibition organizing company, said he found it unreasonable to bar amber-coded people from visiting the exhibition.

He said most foreign countries have abolished entry quarantine requirements. Given that those who come to Hong Kong also have to be isolated in a hotel for three days, the city's attractiveness to overseas exhibitors was insufficient.

tsdreporter6@singtaonewscorp.com