A slice of
FROM luxury supermarkets to outdoor stalls, expensive premium produce is increasingly on show and sought-after by customers in Hong Kong.
At the city’s vibrant Yau Ma Tei fruit market, a Malaysian durian goes for HK$600 (RM342.60), and Tasmanian cherries for HK$550 (RM314).
On the shelves of high-end supermarket City Super, a single Japanese strawberry recently fetched a whopping HK$168 (RM95.93). Each strawberry nestled on a paper pillow, encased in a glossy cardboard box.
The appetite for pricey fruit from far afield reflects a quest for what punters see as clean, fresh produce, even if it has travelled thousands of miles.
Fruit shoppers told AFP they did not consider produce from mainland China – the source of much of Hong Kong’s food – as healthy.
“I used to buy mainland fruit, but now I could never go back. It is not as safe and fresh,” said Peter Wong, 48, an accountant who says he spends around HK$2,000 (RM1,142) on imported fruit each month for himself, his wife and their two children.
“The fruit is fresher if it comes from overseas, like the US or South Africa or Japan,” he said as he browsed the Yau Ma Tei stalls.
Reports of farmers using excessive pesticides, fertilisers and preservatives in China have damaged the reputation of its produce, and food grown locally in Hong Kong is very limited.