Good life servers busy with wine, food

Eunice Lam

Some exhibitors at the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival said they expected solid increases in business following its opening yesterday evening after a five-year break except for online efforts since 2018.

The four-day culinary fiesta has brought over 300 booths of sips and bits from over 10 countries to the Central Harbourfront event space, and made-in-China wine features for a first time.

The entrance fee is HK$20 for today and tomorrow afternoon - 12 pm to 4 pm - and HK$40 for the evening from 5.30 pm to 11 pm.

The festival will open from 12 pm to 8.30 pm on Sunday, with an entrance fee of HK$20.

Ticketing is also available on the Tourism Board's website along with a wine and dine tasting pass app.

This is the first time the festival has fully adopted electronic payment. Visitors can pay for food and drinks with tokens, each equivalent to HK$25.

The pass is available in two tiers - HK$200 and HK$400. The first has eight tokens and a reusable plastic cup and the second 14 tokens and a Lucaris souvenir wine glass.

Speaking at the opening, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the return after five years has shown that not only is the SAR back in business, but it also sets up the good life for the community and visitors.

"There will be a wide selection of wines from eight main wineries, as well as from Moldova, Hungary and other eastern European countries," he noted.

Wine from Thailand and Singapore is in for a first time, Chan added, and there is "plenty of whiskey and beer to choose from." And sweet, sour and spicy dishes are among those being served.

Jamie Lo Ching-man from the Japanese Sake Culture Promotion Association, said her booth is the biggest of the five times she had participated in the festival and that it cost over HK$100,000 to set it up.

She has a spread of 100 kinds of sake and is confident business will see a 30-percent increase from her last on-site visit in 2018.

"In 2018 we had eight booths and this year we have 10," Lo said.

But exhibitor Kelvin Kwok Ka-foon from local wine importer WINE4U was conservative and expected a 20-percent drop in business compared to 2018.

"People's consumption habits have changed after the pandemic," he said.

"Hong Kong needs Hongkongers to purchase, and we should not rely overly on mainland and overseas tourists."

But the Wine and Dine Festival itself is attractive enough to draw visitors alongside the promotion of the administration's Night Vibes Hong Kong campaign, so Kwok is confident his booth can strike a balance between income and expenditure this year.

Lau Hiu-man, managing director of Spanish food supplier Tapas Box, said her company decided to return to the festival after seeing satisfactory revenue in previous years, which included "six-digit" revenue in 2018.

Apart from offering cold cuts and cheese, Lau added, her company has paella for sale this year.