Concrete Analysis | Investors eye Hong Kong cold-storage assets amid rising Greater Bay Area links, demand surge among F&B sector
- In Hong Kong, demand for cold storage has accelerated since the pandemic, with grocery retailers and restaurants looking to increase online sales, and a rise in frozen-food imports
- Growing cold-storage demand will also be supported by Hong Kong’s robust logistics infrastructure
According to CBRE’s 2022 Asia-Pacific Investor Intentions Survey, investors continue to target alternative sectors that have benefited from structural changes driven by the coronavirus pandemic.
Interest in cold storage has strengthened further, with growing investment demand from cold-storage related occupiers and core funds. In Hong Kong, the demand for cold storage has accelerated since the pandemic, with grocery retailers and restaurants looking towards increasing online sales, and a rise in retained imports of frozen food.
Hong Kong has been Asia’s leading logistics hub for decades. But what exactly is driving the recent sharp rise in demand for cold storage?
In particular, Japanese cafes and restaurants were the most active last year. Seeing this trend, many new-to-market retailers entered Hong Kong in 2021, with 75 per cent of entrants being F&B brands. Aside from F&B operators, local supermarkets such as Aeon and HKTV Mall, and Japanese grocers such as Daiso and Gyomu Super, actively expanded during 2021 as well.
