How old Hong Kong businesses have reinvented themselves for 21st century
Chocolate custard mooncakes. XO sauce. Machine-washable woollies. Innovation, some forward thinking and an injection of youth helped Kee Wah Bakery, Lee Kum Kee and Chicks undergarments maker stay relevant
Mooncake with chocolate custard filling? Kevin Wong Sik-cheung was aghast at his son’s proposal three years ago to introduce the item to the product range at Kee Wah Bakery.
“When my eldest son and his cousins first made the suggestion, I immediately shot it down because selling chocolate pastry deviates from our family business of making traditional Chinese cakes,” recalls Wong, Kee Wah’s managing director.
Founded in 1938, the company is one of the city’s oldest bakers, known for its range of traditional Chinese goodies such as bridal cakes with flaky pastry and lotus seed or bean paste filling,
But the elder Wong eventually gave the green light for the newfangled mooncake: his son persuaded him to take a bite, and it turned out to be delicious.
Wong has since become more receptive to other ideas, including one item that began selling in their shops last month: chocolate almond crisps.
It can be tough trying to sustain a heritage business. There’s an advantage, of course, in having a recognised name and rich history. But in clinging closely to tradition, there’s also a danger that these firms, many of which are family run, may be regarded as fusty and out of touch with what consumers want.
