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Stories behind top Hong Kong brands

Stories behind top Hong Kong brands
From Chow Tai Fook and Lee Kum Kee to Vitasoy and Camel flasks, many of Hong Kong's most famous brands have become symbols of Asia to the rest of the world. We chart the fascinating histories of Hong Kong's top brands - their often humble beginnings, their ups and downs, and how many home-grown companies are now international names.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
At just 16 years old, Ricky Hong is already building his own watch designs. Photos: Jocelyn Tam
Timepieces

Meet Hong Kong’s teenage watchmaker Ricky Hong, who’s already making waves

The watchmaking prodigy has drawn scepticism because of his young age, but his passion and talent have already earned him recognition in the horological world.

Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Who is Maria Lee, Hong Kong’s Queen of Cakes? New biography tells all

Food and Drinks

What is Pei Pa Koa and why is Ariana Grande adding it to her ‘vocal box’?

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Hong Kong

PostMag Christmas gift guide: 10 ideas for your favourite couple

From eco-friendly bedding and bamboo sheets, to handmade incense and festive perfume, here are 10 picks for that one couple closest to your heart.

The Coravin Timeless Six+ bottle preservation system is among our recommended gifts for couples. Photo: Coravin
Hong Kong

PostMag Christmas gift guide: 8 ideas for your trendiest friend

From stylish bamboo bags to limited-edition watches and, yes, a map, here are 8 thoughtful suggestions for the trendiest person on your gift list.

Hong Kong

This week in PostMag: home-grown Christmas gifts, a ferry trip and art

In this week’s print issue, a selection of Christmas gifts from Hong Kong brands, the fourth edition of the Bangkok Art Biennale and a 55-hour trip on a ferry.

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Hong Kong culture

Jet Li used an umbrella from this 139-year-old company to fight

Hong Kong-based Leung So Kee Umbrella Factory is one of the oldest handmade umbrella makers in China, weathering storms from political instability to Japanese competition – but Jet Li was too much.

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Leung Mang-sing, the fourth-generation owner of Leung So Kee Umbrella Factory, one of the oldest handmade umbrella manufacturers in China, holds one of the company’s items at its Park Lane Shopper’s Boulevard store in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Hong Kong economy

Opinion | Hong Kong’s entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking – but needs support

Brands like Lee Kum Kee and Chow Tai Fuk reflect the city’s ability to create products that resonate on a global scale. Today, as a new breed of companies take on the challenge of appealing both locally and to customers around the world, they need a supportive ecosystem.

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Fashion

Casetify isn’t from the US? 4 Hong Kong brands making it big overseas

Casetify, the popular phone case brand founded by Wesley Ng, and Edison Chen’s streetwear label Clot are both big in the US, while denim brand Unspun and sneaker company Lane Eight are making inroads.

Stories behind top Asian brands

The story of Watsons: from licensed opium dealer to Asia’s biggest pharmacy

Watsons today is Asia’s leading retail health and beauty chain. It’s an empire that was built on selling opium and opiates in colonial Hong Kong, writes Patrick Chiu in this excerpt from a forthcoming book.

Watsons went from an eye clinic in Guangdong to Asia’s biggest retail pharmacy. Above: the dispensary at the Watsons store in Prince’s Building in Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong in 1988. Photo: Yu Chung-yin/SCMP
Retailing

Hershey, Mars contract manufacturer finds sweet success in mooncake venture

Multizen Asia, a Hong Kong-based contract manufacturer for Hershey and Mars in mainland China, has forayed into mooncakes and is on track to make 1 million pieces this year.

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Mooncakes produced at Multizen’s factory in Tsuen Wan. Photo: May Tse
Obituaries

Lee Man-tat, head of Lee Kum Kee sauce empire, dies at 91

Lee Man-tat is credited with turning Lee Kum Kee into a household name in Hong Kong, with the company’s products now sold in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Consumers

Explainer | Here’s why Vitasoy needs to tame the China boycott crisis after stock losses

Vitasoy shares plunged 10 per cent last week in the aftermath of a leaked internal memo and a backlash by consumers in mainland China. Can the firm behind the city’s venerable brand tame the crisis?

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Hong Kong innovators

Most Hongkongers have used Red A Plastic’s products, even if they don’t know it

Star Industrial’s Red A Plastic products are in many a Hong Kong household, and its plastic cups were made famous by Chow Yun-fat film Prison on Fire. These days, its customers include food businesses and hospitals.

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Star Industrial’s Red A Plastic products can be found in many a Hongkonger’s household. Photo: Winson Wong
Stories behind top Asian brands

From minnow to mighty empire: jeweller Chow Tai Fook’s story

Initially just a goldsmith, Chow Tai Fook opened its first stores in Hong Kong and Macau before the second world war and now has more than 4,000 worldwide. Along the way the company changed the gold and jewellery industry.

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An employee arranges gold bangles inside a Chow Tai Fook store. Photo: Bloomberg

How Chow Tai Fook became an iconic Hong Kong brand

Old Hong Kong

Then & Now | ‘Made in Hong Kong’: a mark of quality it took decades to build

Trust, like that placed in the ‘Made in Hong Kong’ label, must be earned. Forcing the ‘Made in China’ label upon Hong Kong-manufactured goods will squander an internationally recognised sign of credibly.

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Stories behind top Asian brands

Watsons: the story of the oldest established business in Hong Kong

The first A.S. Watson dispensary opened more than 175 years ago in Hong Kong, and took its name from the pharmacist who ran it. Today the company has 14,400 stores in 24 markets and annual revenue of over US$19 billion.

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The first A.S. Watson dispensary opened more than 175 years ago in Hong Kong, making it the city’s oldest business Today it has 14,400 stores in 24 markets and annual revenue of over US$19 billion
Stories behind top Asian brands

White Flower oil: 91 years of going from scents to strength

The pungent cure-all oil blend is an Asian institution, offering relief from everything from headaches to travel sickness. We look at its history, from humble beginnings in 1920s Penang to today’s modern Hong Kong factory

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Stories behind top Asian brands

The Sasa story: from tiny basement store to Asian cosmetics empire

Couple with no business experience took a gamble on a 40 sq ft shop in 1978 and have ridden the wave of Asia’s rising affluence to the point where their customer base ‘now includes, well, almost everyone’, co-founder Simon Kwok says

Stories behind top Asian brands

The history of Hong Kong's Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce, so good it's served in space

Launched 130 years ago in Guangdong, Lee Kum Kee’s products are not only popular across the globe – its sauces have even made it to space

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Lee Kum Kee’s premium line of oyster sauce. Picture: Xiaomei Chen
Stories behind top Asian brands

Homegrown Hong Kong: Po Chai Pills, city’s go-to cure for everything

The tiny pills that reputedly remedy everything from stomach pains to menstrual cramps have long been a staple of local medicine cabinets. Now the company is looking to attract younger consumers to keep the legacy going

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Despite the use of more modern packaging methods, each box of Po Chai Pills looks the same as it has for decades. Photo: Po Chai Pills
Homegrown Hong Kong

Homegrown Hong Kong: Po Chai Pills marks 120 years as our favourite cure-all

Hong Kong culture

Homegrown Hong Kong: Cafe de Coral – feeding the working class

The first Cafe de Coral was opened in Causeway Bay in 1969 by Victor Lo Tang-seong, who wanted to introduce burgers to the city. He developed the concept of selling Chinese fast food in a restaurant setting, and the rest is history

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Stories behind top Asian brands

Homegrown Hong Kong: the nostalgic world of Camel flasks

In the 1940s, most Hongkongers relied on vacuum flasks to keep liquids hot or cold, usually made by local brand Camel. Today, the company is still making them, and runs a vacuum-flask-themed hotel in Kowloon Bay

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Raymond Leung with a display of Camel vacuum flasks at the Camlux Hotel, opened in the former flask factory. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Stories behind top Asian brands

Homegrown Hong Kong: Eu Yan Sang's traditional Chinese medicine

Despite years of family strife, the murder of the founder’s wife by her brothers-in-law and a takeover by a Singapore investment group, traditional Chinese medicine maker Eu Yan Sang has survived and flourished as a Hong Kong icon

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Staff at Eu Yan Sang’s Chinese medicine shop in Central dispensing Chinese herbs in the 1980s. The company now has 248 retail outlets and 34 clinics in Asia and further afield. Photo: SCMP
Hong Kong culture

The Holga: how a Hong Kong-made camera became a cult classic

The 1980s plastic camera that takes far from perfect pictures soared in popularity in the 2000s – thanks to photojournalists such as David Burnett and Teru Kuwayama; now attempts are being made to resurrect it

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Stories behind top Asian brands

Homegrown Hong Kong: the wholesome story of Vitasoy

Started in 1940 as a way to fight malnutrition among Hong Kong’s growing immigrant population, Vitasoy has become an international brand, yet remains a quintessential part of the city’s identity

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