Hong Kong’s dining sector is slowly but surely shaking off the setbacks caused by COVID-19, as Dan Halstrom, the head honcho at the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF), noted during his recent trip. The pandemic had hit hard, with eateries cutting back hours and tourists staying away.
Halstrom’s take is that things in Hong Kong aren’t quite back to the old normal, but there’s a clear upswing, particularly for US beef. In 2023, beef exports to Hong Kong have gone up a fair bit, and it looks like they’ll top $400 million when all’s said and done for the year, USMEF figures suggest.
He pointed out that Hong Kong’s only a bit over a year out from lifting its COVID-19 emergency status, so it’s still early days. The mood among the local crew is cautiously upbeat, with hopes for a pick-up in the grub trade later on.
On the pork front, Hong Kong’s got its hands full with African swine fever (ASF). The local pig industry’s been hit hard, leading to a lot of pigs being culled. This could mean a chance for US pork sellers to step in, as Hong Kong’s big on pork.
