The fifth wave of the epidemic eased, and the evening market reopened on April 21. However, since the beginning of this year, restaurants have been limited to two people per table and banning dine-in in the evening market, which has caused many businesses that have worked hard for more than two years. The restaurant was ultimately unable to survive the three-month ban, which is embarrassing. However, Huang Jiahe, who is also the chairman of the Food and Beverage Association and the chairman of the restaurant group Kimberley, believes that the decline in rents in the post-COVID-19 era has actually caused a The industry's "reshuffle" has brought a new situation, and its group has recently opened a Golden Tea King franchise store in South Korea, taking the opportunity to expand.
As the government is about to change, the future route of Hong Kong's epidemic prevention is unclear, or it may become a destabilizing factor for the catering industry.
He said that the current Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has always been concerned about the development of the industry, and was invited by her to interview at the Chief Executive's Office.
He estimates that the next government will continue to balance economic development and epidemic prevention, and is not worried about bringing earth-shaking changes to the industry.
(Everyone) hungry and patient are eager to try it, and want to quickly eat the soup.
Huang Jiahe pointed out that a large number of diners have made reservations one after another
▼On April 18th, citizens will go to Saigon on the last day of the Easter holiday▼
+3
Reopening | Small and medium-sized fitness studios suddenly fell from booming to bottom, coaches left long hair to protest the closure order
In the fifth wave of the epidemic, the catering industry lost about 17 billion in business volume
Since January 7, restaurants have been banned from dine-in dinners for more than three months.
The industry has welcomed the government's relaxation of anti-epidemic measures.
Huang Jiahe estimates that the industry will lose about 15 billion to 17 billion yuan in business in the fifth wave of the epidemic. It refers to the limit of four people and the resumption of dine-in dinners in the evening market, which is in line with the industry's demands.
He also urged the government to consider relaxing the details, such as the strict limit of 20 people for banquets.
As for the earlier government requirement that restaurant employees receive three doses of the vaccine before they can be exempted from regular nucleic acid testing, the new regulations require all employees to undergo rapid testing every three days.
He believes that the public has become accustomed to the rapid test recently, and he believes that it will not have much impact on the industry. It will only increase operating costs, but it may pose a certain burden to small restaurants. He suggested that employers discuss with their employees, "Of course, I also hope that employees You can handle it yourself, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”
He added: "The situation of returning to Hong Kong for vaccination is close to ideal... The government is very strict. We understand that the demands are still demands. It's not that they can't hear our demands, but the way they do it. I hope that we can try our best to be as watertight as possible, and this is also a matter of understanding. Speaking of which, we all want to balance the two aspects of epidemic prevention and economics.”
▼April 14th Mongkok London restaurant lunch situation▼
Banquets account for 60% of the restaurant's business volume and hope to relax the upper limit of the number of people
In fact, banquets are indeed the main source of income for restaurants. Su Wancheng, deputy general manager of the London Restaurant, mentioned in an earlier interview that banquets account for 60% of the restaurant's business volume. Even if there are up to four people per table, the business volume is only And more than 20% before the epidemic, he bluntly said that "relaxing to 20 people is still not a banquet."
He hoped that the government could relax the banquet number to the previous 240 after the epidemic further eased.
The London restaurant also voluntarily closed for 49 days in line with government measures during the peak of the epidemic in February.
Su revealed that the constant expenses include cleaning fees, building management fees and license fees, etc., together with a loss of income of up to 500,000 yuan, but when there is no business, air conditioners and refrigerators and other electrical appliances must also be turned on regularly. 60,000 yuan for electricity bills.”
Huang Jiahe, Chairman of Kimberly Group and Chairman of Catering Association.
(Photo by Chen Weici)
Falling rents help conglomerates expand in size
There are dangers as well as opportunities. From another perspective, the decline in rents under the epidemic has become a new opportunity.
Huang said that in the environment where restaurants have stopped their losses and left the market, rents have fallen by 20 to 30% in the past few months. Some large groups have instead seized the opportunity and expanded their scale against the market. He also revealed that his group has recently chosen to open in South Korea. Golden Tea King franchise store.
He believes that the normal life of citizens in the post-COVID-19 era has changed significantly, and it is expected that new concept restaurants will emerge in Hong Kong.
Huang also pointed out that the relaxation of the restrictions on gatherings is not only benefiting the catering industry, the public is willing to go out to spend, and all walks of life can regain their vitality, but he feels that the bar industry is not worth it, "It's a pity that (the bar industry) can't reopen until now. , I think the bar industry has taken the necessary anti-epidemic measures, and it is conditional to reopen, but it may not be possible."
▼The situation of the lunch market for two people before the restaurant is relaxed on April 21▼
+6
Huang Jiahe commented on Carrie Lam: Qu pays great attention to the catering industry
"Actually, the current Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, is very concerned about the catering industry and often attends catering events." Huang Jiahe praised her for frequent exchanges with the industry. He was even invited to interview with the Chief Executive's Office to provide advice to the government to help the industry develop northward.
At that time, he reflected on the need to expand the Greater Bay Area market, "In the future, the Greater Bay Area will have a population of nearly 80 million, and we cannot ignore this market."
Huang believes that the catering industry has a total of 200,000 employees, supporting about 800,000 people in Hong Kong, and playing a role in stabilizing the entire Hong Kong economy; however, under the fifth wave of the epidemic, the industry will inevitably be impacted, and it is necessary to consider expanding its business. It also focuses on developing the local market, choosing to set up factories in Guangdong Province to supply a variety of food products to different restaurants.
In the past year, the unemployment rate of the catering industry reached 15%, and I was full of pessimism about the entire industry. The food was not good, and I was worried every day. It is not a good thing.
The catering industry is one of the important industries, and we must do better.
Huang Jiahe
The epidemic has not hindered the pace of Huang Jiahe's expansion, and his group recently opened a Jinchawang franchise store in South Korea.
(File photo/Photo by Gong Jiasheng)
Hope the new chief executive will assist SMEs to develop northward
As for the newly appointed Chief Executive, he hopes not only to continue the decision of the previous government, but also to introduce new measures to support the development of the catering industry.
He expects that the Greater Bay Area market will become more prosperous in the future. In terms of brand development and talent, it can help small and medium-sized enterprises that lack resources to develop in the Mainland. "We still need to improve in many aspects."
With more than two months to go before the next government takes office, Huang Jiahe is confident in the future, saying that the recent epidemic prevention measures have achieved results, and it is estimated that the epidemic can be brought under control by the end of May.
He also believes that the government has accumulated a lot of experience in this epidemic, and believes that if a sixth wave occurs, it will be easier to deal with.
However, "one emperor and one courtier" asked if he was worried that after the change of office, the current epidemic prevention policy would be reshuffled.
He estimated that the government must take care of the economic development of the whole society and balance the epidemic and the economy.
▼1.7 The first night of the ban on dine-in in the restaurant "Jitai"▼
+2
In the past few days, people have made reservations one after another: everyone is so hungry that they want to eat soup
However, for the citizens of Shengdou, when they cannot travel abroad and lack entertainment, satisfying their appetite seems to be the only option.
Huang Jiahe pointed out that a series of good news, the distribution of consumer coupons, and the Mother's Day in early May have indeed helped the industry to increase revenue.
In the past few days, a large number of diners have made reservations one after another.
Huang said frankly that since the first phase of consumer coupons has been distributed before the epidemic prevention measures are relaxed, it is estimated that it will not help the industry very much. In order to continue the consumption boom, cash coupons will continue to be introduced, so we appeal to the public, "I hope the public will be patient and wait until the restaurant reopens on April 21, so that you can get more discounts for dine-in at night."
▼4.15 The first day of the Easter holiday, the first long holiday after the distribution of consumer coupons▼
+5
Restricted table orders for restaurants and other restrictions Huang Jiahe expects that the 30 billion consumer coupons market will only account for 5 billion Easter | Chen Maobo expects the economy to rebound in the second quarter. Relaxed to 4-person fitness room, cinema, beauty salon and reopening coupons | Small merchants in Causeway Bay are not optimistic about the results