Viral F&B brands Bakehouse, Coa and Elephant Grounds have conquered Hong Kong … can they take China, too?
Bakehouse’s egg tarts are already being resold in Lo Wu – can Hong Kong’s F&B venues expand into China without losing their allure?
On any given day of the week, a queue of hungry patrons can be seen outside the doors of Hong Kong’s Bakehouse outlets. Despite the patisserie expanding to an impressive five outposts around highly trafficked neighbourhoods (Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, SoHo and Stanley), the appetite for chef-owner Grégoire Michaud’s airy croissants and sourdough egg tarts remains unsatisfied, judging by the throngs of patient customers waiting in 30-degree-Celsius-plus temperatures. Although four of the five locations function as brisk takeaway joints (the Wan Chai location has a cafe), with a separate coffee window for efficiency to boot, queues still border their shopfronts and staff can be seen working at breakneck pace as they fill order after order.
Not only has Bakehouse become something of a staple in the premium baked-goods category of Hong Kong’s food and beverage scene, the brand has surpassed local repute to gain viral status on mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu. The draw for cross-border tourists is such that, Michaud says, “People buy our egg tarts and resell them in Lo Wu [to consumers across the border]. People are also doing it in Taiwan, and I would not be surprised if it was also happening in South Korea.” He laughs. “It’s pretty crazy when you think about how it’s for a simple pastry like this.”
Egg tart sales were recently limited to 30 pieces per customer to ensure fewer people go away empty-handed. And now Bakehouse has become a must-visit for mainlanders, especially in Tsim Sha Tsui, where cross-border tourists can comprise 50 per cent of the clientele.
Given the viral popularity among Hongkongers and mainland tourists that Bakehouse currently enjoys, expanding the brand into mainland China might seem a natural next step. However, those familiar with the F&B scene in Hong Kong (or even those who have just eaten their way around the city for a few years) will recognise how fickle the industry can be. Restaurant closures after a scant year of operation are commonplace, and longevity is a hard-won war. When expanding across the border, business owners often need to contend with different practices, consumer behaviours, as well as the intense competition that comes with entering a larger market.
China’s market revenue for F&B in 2023 amounted to around US$1.6 billion, with a projected growth of 7.38 per cent annually. Hong Kong’s F&B industry has responded in kind. The past three years have seen some of Hong Kong’s best chefs open their own restaurants in Shenzhen, such as Ricardo Chaneton of Mono with Spanish restaurant Mesa and Antimo Maria Merone of Estro with Terra Madre. The mainland’s growing fine-dining scene, coupled with Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Area integration in coming years, provides plenty of reasons to expand into what is, for foreign venues, still largely an untapped market.
