Land Resumption Dispute | Tuen Mun Debao Snow Granule Factory is expected to be recovered, public housing catering industry is worried about ice shortage, and the price of ice will be increased

After the paper beverage box recycling factory "Mil Mil Meow", another factory is facing forced relocation and closure.

Debao Snow, which has been standing in Hong Kong for 40 years, may be repossessed because its factory is located within the proposed public housing project in Lam Tei, Tuen Mun.

Chen Yanxing, executive director of Debao, said that the ice-making plant has a huge demand for water and electricity, and it will take about two years to build a new plant. Under the current environment, it is difficult to find a suitable new site in a short time.

The market share of Debao snow pellets exceeds 20%. The catering industry is worried that small restaurants will be hit. As many dishes and drinks require ice cubes, the price of each pack of ice may increase from the current about 30 yuan to 30 yuan. 40 yuan, and even affect the price of frozen drinks.

110 employees and about 30 outsourced drivers to make ice of up to 800 tons per day

Debao Snow Grain is located to the west of Lam Tei Light Rail Station. It covers an area of ​​about 50,000 square feet. It employs 110 employees and about 30 outsourced drivers. It has more than 3,000 customers and has an annual turnover of 100 million yuan.

Its core ice-making business can produce a maximum of about 800 tons, or 20,000 packs of ice, per day. It is used for cement manufacturing on site, catering, etc. It is estimated that the market share exceeds 20%.

In order to keep employees’ jobs during the off-season in winter, it also develops extended business and cooperates with designated distributors to provide the restaurant with groceries such as lemon slices, eggs, firewood, rice, oil, and salt.

Executive Director: If the business closes, it will affect the supply of ice in the peak season

Executive Director Chen Yanxing said that there are only four large-scale ice-making factories in Hong Kong. However, unlike other manufacturing industries, ice-making needs to provide ice in a short period of time within a specified time. For example, cement factories are generally in the afternoon. The morning, afternoon and evening markets have the highest demand.

However, the shelf life of ice is limited, and it needs to be made on demand. He believes that once the factory is closed, it will affect the supply during the peak season.

"It's like wearing a mask suddenly in an epidemic situation. What about the sudden supply of mask factories?"

▼The paper bag drink box recycling merchant Mil Mill was forced to move▼

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The ice factory needs a lot of water and electricity, but no suitable land can be found, and the government is "blindly grabbing land"

When asked about the future relocation plan, Chen Wugui said that the government claims to provide preferential subsidies, but there is no one-for-one mechanism for land, and ice-making involves a lot of water, electricity and perfect transportation facilities, but the northern metropolitan area is zoned for the development of innovation and technology, and other The government is "blindly grabbing land", believing that there are not many options for land at present, and accusing the government of ignoring the local non-innovation and technology industries and allowing them to fend for themselves.

Chen revealed that he had inquired about the Innovation Park and was informed that there were several plots of land available for lease, but the term was only about 10 years.

He worries that under the current I&T-led policy, if the lease of "Mil Mil" will not be renewed at any time in the future, the factories built over the years and the investment of over ten million yuan will be wiped out.

"I really don't know what to do in the future, can I do it?"

Chen Yanxing explained that the ice-making process includes systems such as water storage, cooling, multiple filtration, ultraviolet light sterilization, and automatic packaging. The price of just one ice-making machine is more than 1 million yuan.

However, ice machines are like air conditioners, which are difficult to relocate and expensive to install. If the existing ice machines cannot be connected to the future factory buildings, "I am afraid that dozens of them will become scrap metal."

Small restaurants without ice machines are likely to be hit with frozen drinks or increase prices

Xu Wenwei, chairman of the Rice Miao Diet Professional Association, said that small restaurants such as tea restaurants, ice rooms, noodle stalls, etc., due to the limited area of ​​the restaurant, it is difficult to install high-standard filters and ice machines. Lord, you need to rely on the ice factory to provide ice pellets, and you will definitely be hit.

He worries that even if the capacity of other ice factories can fill the Debao snow pellets, the team may not be able to support in time.

"Everyone in business understands that every car is lined up densely. There are so many restaurants in Hong Kong, how many fleets are needed to deliver them first?"

Xu continued to point out that many dishes in the restaurant require ice cubes, including beverages such as milk tea and coffee, Hainanese chicken and cross-bridge rice noodles, which also require more than half a bucket of ice water to “pass the cold river”.

He estimated that if Debao’s ice cream business is closed, if the demand exceeds supply, the price of each pack of ice may increase from the current 25 to 30 yuan to 35 to 40 yuan, and the frozen drinks in the tea restaurant may also be affected and the price will increase. .

In addition, Huang Jiahe, president of the Association of Catering Traders, also believes that other ice-making factories will not be able to replace Debao Snow Flakes to provide sufficient supply in the short term.

Although some restaurants can purchase ice machines, he is also worried that the number of ice machines on the market is limited, making it difficult to supply many restaurants.

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