Hong Kong’s Maxim’s Group adds meaning to merrymaking with charity donations
Catering and restaurant conglomerate will donate HK$10 to Operation Santa Claus for each BOB craft beer and cup of WeGen tomatoes sold
Drinking and feasting during holidays can be both merry and meaningful if the food and beverage consumed benefit good causes. Just ask Maxim’s Group, the Hong Kong catering and restaurant conglomerate.
The group will contribute part of its revenue from selected eco-friendly-products to Operation Santa Claus (OSC), an annual charitable fundraising initiative held by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK.
The firm will donate HK$10 for each bottle of BOB craft beer sold at designated restaurants from December 2024 to February 2025, and another HK$10 for each cup of WeGen tomatoes sold at selected bakeries during the month-long period from December 27. It is also arranging the donation of second-hand toys, appliances and clothes to OSC beneficiary Grassroots Future for distribution to refugees and asylum seekers.
It is part of the company’s 17 years of support for the charity campaign, which is funding 11 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) championing a range of causes including sustainability and community care.
“We have added sustainability elements to our OSC project this year,” said Keith Siu Tak-wai, the group’s chief operating officer for Hong Kong and Macau.
“Integrating community caring with sustainability efforts, we are spreading festive blessings and the message of ‘food wise, waste less’ to the community,” Siu said.
BOB, short for “bottle of bread,” is craft beer made by upcycling surplus bread and crusts collected from Maxim’s facilities.
The tomatoes are grown with the WeGen eco-friendly farming initiative in which the group’s pre-consumer food waste is sent to local farms for conversion into enzymes that are used in agriculture instead of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The resulting produce goes to Maxim’s restaurants or bakeries.
