Mainland crawfish specialty brand JuanFu announced today (December 20) that it has opened its first restaurant in Hong Kong, leveraging the city's status as an international city and culinary capital to spread its brand worldwide.

     The JuanFu brand was founded in Shanghai in 2015 and has grown into a popular chain of 11 outlets spanning different provinces and cities in Mainland China. Its Hong Kong outlet, dubbed Buddies Crawfish, is in Sheung Wan and has comprehensive quality systems in place to ensure crawfish are directly imported from breeding bases in Greece, Jiangsu and Hunan.

     The Chairman of the Board of Buddies Crawfish Hong Kong Limited, Mr Wu Hsiao, said he hopes to promote the brand globally and expand to overseas markets through the opening of the Hong Kong store. He said, "Hong Kong is an international city with a good mix of people from different cultures and backgrounds all over the world. The large number of Mainland and overseas visitors offers a good clientele, which also makes Hong Kong the best place for us to promote our brand globally. Having a base in Hong Kong will help us easily enter the Chinese markets in Taiwan, Singapore, Australia and the US."

     He added, "At the moment, there are limited supplies of crawfish in the Hong Kong market, so we hope to fill this gap by offering stable supplies of crawfish to the market in different ways. Further down the road, we also plan to open another crawfish-themed restaurant and a crawfish fast food store in Hong Kong, as well as distribute fresh and chilled crawfish to local restaurants and supermarkets."

     Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion Dr Jimmy Chiang said, "Hong Kong's food and beverage scene is thriving and many restaurants with different dining options have already established their presences in our city. I am happy to see JuanFu choose Hong Kong to set up its first restaurant outside the Mainland. I believe the brand will make use of the city's business advantages to expand overseas."

About Buddies Crawfish Hong Kong Limited

     Headquartered in Beijing, JuanFu is one of the brands owned by Shanghai Wan Li Network and Technology Co Ltd, which specialises in developing its own brand for agriculture products. The brand in Hong Kong was brought over by Buddies Crawfish Hong Kong Limited which aims to promote the brand globally and expand overseas business. The flagship Buddies Crawfish restaurant in Hong Kong is located on Queen's Road Central in Sheung Wan. For more information, please visit www.jfbuddies.com.

About Invest Hong Kong

     Invest Hong Kong is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established in 2000 to attract foreign direct investment and support overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong. It provides free advice and customised services to help businesses succeed in Hong Kong’s vibrant economy. For more information, please visit www.investhk.gov.hk.

     For an event photo, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72157674107255984.     

Ends/Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Issued at HKT 11:00

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