After being in HK three years in a row, there's not much that's overly exciting to talk about. But one new thing that I did this year was go to the annual Food Expo and associated exhibitions.
The Food Expo itself was a blur. All I know is that it was super super crowded, which totally ruins your mood for wanting to try or buy anything. And the truth is, there wasn't really that much interesting food. Most were things you could find in regular stores. The only difference is that the prices are slightly lower. Overall, not too interesting.
The highlight for me was not the Food Expo itself, but the Tea Fair. It was really small compared to the Food Expo, but much more interesting for me for 'obvious' reasons. And to make the experience extra nice, I got to go on one of the days where it was only open to industry people and not open to public. For some reason, we got numerous extra buyer passes this year. So I got to go in as a buyer.
To be honest, I don't know much about tea. I probably should. But my purpose was not to learn about the tea itself. If I wanted to do that, I really don't need to go there. My purpose was to see what other companies are doing in terms of marketing, both in terms of packaging and distribution, in hopes of getting some ideas.
There were lots of interesting things. I'm inclined to believe that most people, including the buyers, don't necessarily know whether the tea is actually good or not. In this day and time, it's the packaging that brings attention and potential purchases. Tea in cans. Tea in wooden boxes. Tea in wicker baskets. Tea made into art displays. Everything you can think of. And of course, most companies try to bring in the health benefits of tea. (Although my impression is that they slightly overdo it in this respect.)
My only disappointment relating to this event was that I didn't get to go with my grandfather. I really wanted to go with him, because I know he'd be really happy if I did. And also because it would have been much more interesting and informative to go with him since he knows what the heck is going on. But I had other obligations that day. Hopefully, next time.
So now, after going to this, the question is......
What can I do?
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