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Denise Tsang

Hong Kong’s experiment with food trucks is dying. Four years after they burst on the scene, with a competition to select vendors on wheels, they are now rolling off into the sunset.
“The operators are losing millions of dollars this year alone,” said Gordon Lam Sui-wa, chairman of the Hong Kong Food Truck Federation.
From 15 trucks in 2016, only three are still in operation. The rest are locked in car parks or no longer in operation, their owners having given up.

The first couple of years seemed promising, although operators were soon complaining about strict rules, including being limited to designated spots and having to change location every two weeks.
Then came last year’s social unrest, which brought tourist numbers crashing down. This year’s Covid-19 pandemic saw visitors disappear altogether, and restrictions to keep the virus at bay meant even local customers stayed away.
Slump in business adds to woes of Hong Kong’s food truck operators
“As a result of social-distancing rules at government facilities and tourist destinations, we have been forced to suspend business,” Lam said.
He expects the last of the food trucks to exit the scene when the four-year trial ends in February next year.
The scheme was launched with much fanfare in 2016 initially for two years, and after its initial success, was extended by another two.
The trucks sold everything from dumplings and pineapple buns to fried noodles and salad bowls. At one stage, business was best at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on Lantau Island.

Lam, a member of the opposition Civic Party and owner of the Table Seven x W. Burger food truck, said the operators wondered about the government’s plans for the scheme.
“It has only given financial help of HK$80,000 to each of us in the first round of pandemic relief measures,” he said.
Licensed under the “food factory” category, the food trucks received the one-off cash subsidy during the government’s first relief package of HK$30 billion in February. They were left out of the second aid package worth about HK$137.5 billion in April and the HK$24 billion third round of measures this month.
Lam said the aid was a drop in the ocean for the struggling food truck operators. He asked: “Is the government giving up on the food trucks?”


A Tourism Commission spokeswoman said the government was aware of the food truck operators’ problems and had offered them various fee waivers and assistance, as well as expanding the number of spots where they could operate.
The government would reveal its decision on the way forward for the scheme within this year, she added.
The food trucks’ gross revenue collapsed to just HK$540,000 in the first eight months of this year, from HK$8.17 million over the same period last year, she said. The commission did not have information on truck operators’ profits and losses.
At best, I can earn about HK$1,000 or HK$2,000 a day, but it is only enough to pay my parking fees
Cheung, Book Brothers food truck owner
Hong Kong visitor arrivals plunged 99.9 per cent to merely 4,449 in August, and came down 91.9 per cent to 3.54 million in the first eight months of this year. Key destinations such as Disneyland and Ocean Park, once among the most lucrative locations for food trucks, have been closed for months.
Lam said most food trucks saw declining business from June last year, when anti-government protests erupted and visitors began staying away.
“We could not do business properly last year already,” he said.

That added to the woes of operators, whose licensing rules kept them at fixed locations to minimise competing with restaurants. Although they were on wheels, they were not allowed to move about looking for better spots to do business.
The owner of the Book Brothers food truck, which sells Beijing roast duck buns, is planning to quit even if the government extends the scheme once more.
Asking to be identified as Cheung, he said he had lost “millions of dollars” so far, and added: “I am very disappointed.”
Why Hong Kong’s food truck scheme is failing to get into gear
To reduce costs, he let go of about three staff members and sold his food production facility recently. Cheung said he recently received approval to set up his food truck at a scenic picnic area in Tai Mei Tuk, in Tai Po.
“If the weather is good, you will see me cooking and selling buns and driving the food truck on weekends,” he said. “It’s a one-man show now. At best, I can earn about HK$1,000 or HK$2,000 a day, but it is only enough to pay my parking fees.”
The business also had some fixed costs such as insurance, which amounted to about HK$40,000 a year.
“I want to return the licence and sell the truck to the government whether it wants to renew the scheme or not,” he said.
Food truck operator Ben Liu Chun-ho, who runs Ma Ma Dumpling, said his truck had been parked in Kwun Tong for HK$4,000 a month since October last year.
“I am still paying car park fees, insurance and other expenses, which add up to about HK$100,000 a year,” Liu said.

The Tourism Commission spokeswoman said the government had heard the operators’ views and relaxed restrictions by introducing six new venues between November 2017 and June 2020.
These spots were at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui, the Hong Kong port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, Tai Po Waterfront Park, Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre and West Kowloon Cultural District.
That made for a total of 13 venues, although some are temporarily closed.
Aside from the HK$80,000 subsidy, the government also exempted operators from having to pay annual renewal fees for their food factory licences, registered commercial vehicle licence and vehicle examination fees in 2020 and 2021. There were also rental cuts at government venues and the two major theme parks.
“We will explore further measures to assist the food truck business,” the spokeswoman said.


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No visitors, no buzz: Hong Kong’s food truck operators see the end of the road amid Covid-19 pandemic

Hong Kong’s food truck industry has been hit hard by last year’s social unrest and the current pandemic. Photo: Felix Wong

The food trucks in Tai Mei Tuk, Tai Po. 19SEP20 SCMP/ Felix Wong

Chairman of Hong Kong Food Truck Federation Gordon Lam Sui-wa photographed at Disneyland. 09JAN20 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Closed venues, cancelled programmes: Hong Kong artists anxious for pandemic measures to ease, so the show can go on

Jessica Burrows (centre), from the Hong Kong Ballet, has spent much of the coronavirus-hit year practising alone. Photo: Nora Tam

Yan Huichang leading the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on Friday night, October 30, 2009.The concert is part of "Ancient Paths, Modern Voices" Festival at Carnegie Hall.This image;Yan Huichang leading the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in Guo Wenjing's "Three Melodies of West Yunnan."(Photo by Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images)

Jessica Burrows, Coryphée at Hong Kong Ballet adjusts her face mask during practise in a studio at Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity in Kowloon Tsai amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 02SEP20 SCMP / Nora Tam

This handout image show Dancers (from left): Zhi-yao Chen, Xue-ning Zhang, Yao Jin, Ge Gao, Jessica Burrows perform " Serenade ". Photographer: Tony Luk [13JUNE2016 FEATURES ARTS ONLINE]

***PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE REUSE*** Located on the eastern edge of the West Kowloon Cultural District, at the junction of Canton Road and Austin Road, the Xiqu Centre is a performing arts venue dedicated to Chinese opera and created by Revery Architecture (formerly Bing Thom Architects) and Ronald Lu & Partners. It was inspired by traditional Chinese lanterns and blends traditional and contemporary elements to reflect the evolving nature of the art form. The eight-storey building has a total area of 28,164 sq m and houses a Grand Theatre, accommodating 1,073 seats, a Tea House Theatre, with a capacity of up to 200 seats, eight professional studios and a seminar hall, all specially designed for different types of xiqu-related functions and activities.

Cantonese Opera actress Christie TO Wing-sum photographed at Xiqu Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. 09SEP20 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Maestro Yan Huichang, artistic director and principal conductor for life of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Central. 09SEP20 SCMP / Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong bathhouses prepare to reopen after Covid-19 shutdown, as industry boss calls latest round of government subsidies ‘meaningless’

A worker disinfects part of Windsor Spa in Fortress Hill ahead of its planned reopening on Friday. Photo: May Tse

Media visit at the Windsor Spa in Fortress Hill. Bathhouses have ramped up hygiene measures ahead of reopening this week, after facilities were forced to suspend operations for about four months during the pandemic and they suffered millions of dollars in losses over the period.Â 17SEP20 SCMP/ May Tse

News

Hong Kong

Coronavirus

Economic Impact


Only three of 15 trucks still in operation, struggling through economic downturn, pandemic
Early success gave way to complaints about restrictive rules, curbs on where trucks could go



Only three of 15 trucks still in operation, struggling through economic downturn, pandemic


No visitors, no buzz: Hong Kong’s food truck operators see the end of the road amid Covid-19 pandemic

Only three of 15 trucks still in operation, struggling through economic downturn, pandemic Early success gave way to complaints about restrictive rules, curbs on where trucks could go

Only three of 15 trucks still in operation, struggling through economic downturn, pandemic

Early success gave way to complaints about restrictive rules, curbs on where trucks could go