Thousands of foodies and bargain hunters on Saturday flocked to the five-day Hong Kong Food Expo, where exhibitors were busy dishing out freebies to compensate for this year’s ban on taste-testing.

The event made its grand comeback two days earlier after being cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, though under new rules, including operating at half capacity and with samples off the menu.

About a dozen people were already lined up at one of the booths shortly after the doors opened at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre event at 10am on Saturday.

Among the early birds was a retired woman queuing at the Happy Mama Enjoy Food booth to buy a preservative-free frozen chicken dish that normally costs HK$108 (US$14) per pack for just HK$1.

The woman, surnamed Leung, was second in line, hours ahead of the flash sale’s 1pm start.

“I was here [on Friday] and saw the discount, but they had already finished giving away the goodies,” she said.

Residents inspect produce on Saturday at the Hong Kong Food Expo, back after going dark for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tinni, a worker at the booth, said the company was offering 20 per cent discounts on their products along with a limited-edition cooler bag for shoppers who added HK$1 to their purchase.

Expo attendee Viann Chan was on a spending spree despite the tasting ban, forking out about HK$600 on special Okinawan lime tea and other Japanese foods.

“I’ve tried this tea before when travelling around Japan, and since we can’t travel, I miss the taste,” she said. “It’s a bit of a shame there’s no taste-testing, but I still plan to visit the stalls and brands promoted by influencers on social media. I trust their recommendations.”

Chan also got a free mini bottle of sake from an exhibitor after making her purchase, something she said made up for the lack of on-site snacking.

Numerous residents queued up before the expo in Wan Chai had even opened its doors on Saturday.

Housewife Bobo Tai spent about HK$1,000 within the first hour of the expo. Along with her teenage son, they bought mooncakes, frozen meats and Japanese peaches.

“The prices of the items at retail stores elsewhere have been more expensive recently, so the discounts at the food fair mean they are relatively good value for the money,” Tai said, adding that one of the booths was giving away free bags of Kyoto grape jelly.

More than 880 exhibitors in all are expected to take part in the expo, which ends on Monday.

Several stalls seen by the Post were conducting lucky draws for free wines, pasta sauces or special discounts, while exhibitors using hand bells and booth salesmen waving sign boards added to the overall buoyant atmosphere.

Among the most popular stalls were those for supermarket chain Wellcome, fresh fruit vendor Sun Lee Laan Wholesale Food, dried Chinese seafood company Good Poit Food, and frozen salted chicken seller Dragon Soup Kitchen.

Nicole Wong, owner of first-time exhibitor Nicole’s Kitchen, a local brand that makes artisanal chilli sauces and jams, said she was impressed by the number of attendees.

“We had a big crowd the past few days, and we’re very surprised by the fantastic turnout. It’s better than we expected even without taste-testing,” she said, adding the company had focused on social media and influencer marketing to target customers.

Wong said the absence of taste-testing had allowed her team to focus on promoting the food to interested shoppers rather than giving out free samples.

Some exhibitors, however, chose to give away wrapped samples as an alternative to on-the-spot tasting.

Consumers could not sample vendor’s wares on site, but thousands still turned up for the discounts.

Naresh Narwani, chief executive officer of STN Group, which sells chocolate dates, sparkling wines and truffles imported from Dubai, was handing out wrapped chocolates to passers-by.

“Taste-testing would be better, because potential consumers can try it and decide on the spot if they want to buy,” Narwani said.

Still, the business was doing better than expected, he said, with more than 1,000 customers per day spending about HK$300 on average. The company also had 75 per cent of its exhibition rental costs subsidised by organiser the Trade Development Council and the Hong Kong government.

Capacity at the Wan Chai venue remains capped at 50 per cent, in line with the government’s anti-pandemic guidelines. About 450,000 and 510,000 people attended the food expo in 2019 and 2018, respectively.

This year’s edition will see about 80 per cent of the vendors accepting the government’s newly issued HK$5,000 consumption vouchers, distributed via four e-payment platforms.

Users of the Octopus and WeChat Pay HK electronic payment systems will also be eligible for exclusive discounts at the fair, while most stalls also still accept cash.