Hong Kong Industrialist Aug Oct 2021

Making up one-third of the total industry added-value, the food, beverages and tobacco industry plays a significant role in local manufacturing sector. The “Made by Hong Kong” sauce, food and beverage brands are well known locally as well as abroad. With mature industrial foundation, support and sales network, the industry is vibrant with great development potentials. In the Industrial Production Index, which indicates the current performance of the industrial sectors in Hong Kong, the food, beverages and tobacco industry sector rose from 76.9 to 111.0 between 2010 to 2019, recording a 10-year consecutive surge. Amid the COVID-19, the food consumption market in Hong Kong has remained strong where locally produced healthy food and pre-cooked packaged food are gaining popularity amongst the consumers. Concurrently, the growing expectation of consumers has driven the global F&B industry to evolve. Consumers nowadays are more conscious of food hygiene and safety than ever before, with the pursuit of more healthy and sustainable diet, leading to the breakthrough of vegetarian and cultivated meat markets. On the side, the technological advancement in vertical agriculture, smart manufacturing, sustainable packaging and food waste treatment has opened up a new arena for food manufacturers to speed up industrial transformation, leading Hong Kong’s F&B brands towards a more diverse, technology-based and quality-driven development. As the world’s largest food importer and consumer, China’s net demand for imported F&B products shows no sign of waning. China imported US$124.4 billion worth of food in the first nine months of 2020, up 13.3% in the year-ago period. The growing size of middle-class population is Asia is set to stimulate the demand for safe, healthy and Asian-oriented quality food products. This presents an attractive opportunity for Hong Kong brands to take forward innovative food technology, modernise production facilities with the Government’s Re-industrialisation Funding Scheme, and sell the “Made by Hong Kong” brands worldwide with the benefit of integrated development across Greater Bay Area and Asia. 食品、飲品及煙草的行業增加價值佔本港製 造業總額的三分之一，是「香港製造」的重要 一環，醬料、食品、飲料等品牌馳名中外， 擁有穩固的產業基礎、支援和營銷網絡，行 業發展潛力巨大。在反映本地工業表現的工 業生產指數中，食品、飲品及煙草行業的指 數由2010年的76.9升至2019年的111.0， 錄得連續十年上升。 即使在新冠肺炎的打擊下，本地的消費市場 仍然強勁，本地製造的健康食品、預先包裝 加熱食品等大受歡迎。同時，環球食品工業 正隨著消費者的期望而變革，除了更注重食 品衞生和安全，亦更追求健康和可持續的飲 食模式，素食、培植肉等市場不斷突破；另 一方面，隨著垂直耕種、智能生產、環保包 裝、廚餘處理等技術的進步，食品製造業界 應乘此趨勢，加快升級轉型步伐，帶領香港 食品品牌進一步向多元化、高技術、高品質 發展。 中國作為全球最大的食品進口及消費國，對 於食品及飲料的需求有增無減。在2020年 頭九個月，中國食品進口總值達1,244億美 元，較對上一年同期上升13.3%。亞洲的中 產階級不斷增長，對安全健康、切合亞洲飲 食習慣的優質飲食產品帶來巨大商機。本地 食品工業界應該藉此時機，推動食品科技創 新，並善用政府「再工業化資助計劃」為生產 線升級，善用粵港澳大灣區和亞洲一體化發 展機遇，將「香港製造」拓展至內地及亞洲的 龐大市場。 Chairman: Anthony Lam 主席:林世豪 | Vice-Chairman: Eric Ng 副主席:伍智聰 Food, beverages and tobacco 食品、飲品及煙草 GROUP 8 分組 第 8-10/2021 | 71