People walk by China Agricultural National Exhibition Group's booth during the Hong Kong Food Expo 2023, at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Wanchai, Hong Kong, on Aug 17, 2023. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

Hong Kong’s Food Expo, which kicked off on Thursday, has attracted increased participation from local, Chinese-mainland and foreign exhibitors, who have brought culinary delights tailored to the taste preferences of Hong Kong residents.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the organizer of the five-day event, said the expo — along with several other events taking place at the same time — has attracted more than 1,800 exhibitors from 24 countries and regions, thanks to the reopening of Hong Kong’s border to the rest of the world and the resumption of food sampling.

Dried mushrooms from Southwest China’s Yunnan province sold at the expo are priced about 20 percent lower than the market prices, said Zhang Haoye, who runs a company selling local specialties in the provincial capital of Kunming

The number of mainland exhibitors participating in the food expo has recovered to 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, the council said.

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The Chinese-mainland agricultural pavilion showcases specialty agricultural products from 67 enterprises across 10 provinces and cities, including the debut of ready-to-cook and ready-to-heat meals.

Li Nan, who works at the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that 13 premade meal-makers from Guangdong province participated in the expo, presenting signature products that cater to the palate of Hong Kong residents.

Huang Li, from a local food company in Liuzhou, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, said that Guangxi enterprises have been participating in food expos since 2015, primarily showcasing agricultural and sideline products, including camellia oil.

But Huang said this year’s flagship product is luosifen — pungent rice noodle containing pickled bamboo shoots and river snails — and they have specifically introduced an original-flavor variant tailored to the common preference among Hong Kong residents for nonspicy food.

Dried mushrooms from Southwest China’s Yunnan province sold at the expo are priced about 20 percent lower than the market prices, said Zhang Haoye, who runs a company selling local specialties in the provincial capital of Kunming.

She added that due to the preference of residents in Hong Kong and Macao for soup, Yunnan’s mushroom products have been highly popular at food expos held in the two special administrative regions for many years.

In front of the booth of the Japanese fruit wine brand Choya, Yuya Goto from the planning department told China Daily that there are differences in taste preferences between Hong Kong residents and Japanese people, with the former showing a strong liking for products from the Uji Matcha series.

Local brand Hang Heung Cake Shopa said that during weekdays, daytime visitors were primarily senior citizens, while in the evenings, until the expo closed at 10 pm, many young people arrived to taste and purchase the food offerings.

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An Australian who identified himself only as Zach, who traveled from Australia to Hong Kong for tourism, said this was his first time participating in the food expo, and he was deeply impressed by the exhibition and particularly enjoyed the blueberry wine from the third floor, which housed the Chinese-mainland pavilion.

Accompanying Zach was an older adult who also noted a significant increase in the number of visitors compared with the same period during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The food expo is the first since the pandemic to allow food sampling, with the public being able to enjoy hot food on-site. According to the HKTDC, with the upcoming weekend, the expo is expected to attract more visitors than it did last year, but a complete recovery to the pre-pandemic level will still take time.

Contact the writer at irisli@chinadailyhk.com