Researchers in Hong Kong have developed a fungi-derived fat alternative that can decrease the fat content of a product and improve gut health and metabolic benefits.

The alt-fat world has been blossoming lately. Microbes, microalgae, carbon, you name it – startups all over the world are using techniques like fermentation to come up with fats that are better for you, and better for the Earth.

These also hold a key to the progress of an Ozempic-hit food industry, which has contributed to and coincided with a rising awareness of gut health and metabolism.

Joining this list of innovations is AkkMore, a fungi-derived fat designed to replace animal fats while preventing obesity and metabolic diseases, enhancing gut health and immunity, and relieving anxiety. That is the promise of its creators from Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s (PolyU) Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) and Department of Food Science and Nutrition (FSN).

“Our research team has completed three rounds of animal trials on AkkMore. The results show that the formula can effectively improve metabolism and aid in weight management,” said project co-lead Gail Jinhui Chang, a research assistant professor at FSN. “Moving forward, we are focusing on exploring applications of AkkMore in the development of healthy food.”

Hitting health and sustainability touchpoints

The PolyU researchers have been working on AkkMore since 2022, finding a way to extract the functional component from natural fungal sources. While conducting animal trials puts a question mark over the welfare aspects of the product, mice that had been administered the AkkMore formula were found to have a healthier gut microbiota, indicating better weight management, gut health, immune and metabolic system, and anxiety management.

The research won a Silver Medal at the 2022 International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, and its applications for health benefits are being evaluated for patent filings.

“This collaboration is testament to the successful translation of a research outcome,” said Chang. “Moving forward, we will further explore the application of AkkMore formula in innovative health foods and put greater efforts into identification of mushroom strains with better functions and standardisation of the cultivation process.”

In addition to lowering the calorific content of food, AkkMore is also said to extend the shelf life of cream products, and have thickening, emulsifying and stabilising properties. Leveraging these attributes, the PolyU team developed Cream Mate, an alternative cream that can be used in conjunction with conventional cream to reduce the latter’s content in desserts.

This, the researchers argue, could help cut dairy consumption and food waste in the long run, contributing to lower greenhouse gas emissions and higher manufacturing productivity.

AkkMore’s potential for the foodservice industry

To demonstrate AkkMore’s viability for restaurants and the foodservice industry, RiFood and FSN have teamed up with Hotel Icon, which is owned by PolyU, whose fine-dining eatery Green has been using Cream Mate to develop reduced-fat soft serve and desserts.

Hotel Icon commissioned a lab test to assess the nutritional components of the soft serve, which revealed that the fat content of the ice cream using Cream Mate was under 3%, and reduced by over 80% when compared to regular soft serve. Meanwhile, the total calories were also cut by more than half.

Since May 1, the Green restaurant has been running a forest-themed afternoon tea offering with Japanese fruits and AkkMore. The tasting menu includes two Cream Mate soft serves in Japanese hōjicha and Hokkaido milk flavours. Guests can also opt for an Akkmore ‘special drink’ instead of tea or coffee for an additional price.

While this is a limited-edition run, it’s part of a growing roster of alt-fat ingredients targeting sustainability and health in the food sector. In the US, GLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are already making people eat fewer calories and fats as they look to manage their weight. Meanwhile, Roughly 30% of Hong Kong’s residents live with obesity, while another 20% are overweight. Meanwhile, 8.5-10% of people in the city live with type 2 diabetes.

PolyU’s development aims to address these issues, while also lowering the foodservice industry’s climate footprint. The shelf life aspect will also help Hong Kong’s food sector reduce waste – 30-40% of Hong Kong’s municipal waste is made up of food waste, only 4% of which is recycled.

The post AkkMore: Can This Fungi Fat Help Restaurants Tackle Obesity and Enhance Gut Health? appeared first on Green Queen.

Two food waste warriors let us in on their efforts to turn surplus food into a sustainable dining experience in a city that throws out over a million tonnes of food each year.

Hong Kong may be known as Asia’s World City, a melting pot of cultures with great food and a penchant for elevated dining experiences, but the city – like most others in the world – has a major food waste problem.

Every day, 3,600 tonnes of food and 13 million rice bowls end up in the city’s landfills – estimates suggest that 30-40% of Hong Kong’s municipal waste comprises food waste. But only 4% of all this waste is recycled, which doesn’t bode well for the city’s climate action plan, which aims to reduce emissions by 26-30% by the end of the decade.

It also doesn’t bode well for Hong Kong’s food insecurity problem, which affects a third of all its citizens. Over 7.3 million people live in the city, and eat an average of 2.85kg of food each day. Roughly calculated, the amount of food that goes to waste could feed nearly 1.3 million of its residents – that’s almost equivalent to all Hong Kongers living under the poverty line.

Tackling food waste has multipronged benefits for the city, and that’s exactly what The Rescued Feast, a sustainable dining experience that made use of surplus food destined for waste, sought to highlight on April 25.

Organised by food-saving app CHOMP, media company TMS and charity More Good, the event rescued food from CHOMP’s F&B vendors, which were transformed into light bites led by More Good head chef Mike Silva. It showcased how food scraps can be turned into nutritious meals, raising awareness about Hong Kong’s food waste problem.

With nearly 200 attendees, The Rescued Feast managed to save 230kg of food, equating to about 460k for CO2e. The success means it is now the first of a series. After the event, Green Queen founding editor Sonalie Figueiras – who attended the dinner – spoke to CHOMP founder and CEO Carla Martinesi and TMS founder Krystal Lai about the initiative, their goals, and the importance of fighting food waste in Hong Kong.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.

Sonalie Figueiras: How did you both come together to create this event?

Krystal Lai: It’s been a long time in the making. About a year ago, Carla approached me with the idea of hosting an event using food waste and scraps. We were both super excited by the potential to transform these into a high-end event that could shift perceptions about food waste. Having volunteered with More Good several times, I was familiar with their mission, space, and team, which led us to the natural conclusion: why not host the event right here?

When we first reached out to the founders of More Good, their excitement matched ours. Carla and I feel incredibly fortunate that the event was such a success, and we’re excited to turn it into a series.

SF: Where did the rescued food come from? Why was it going to be wasted?

Carla Martinese: The food scraps were collected from various CHOMP Partners & Friends (such as LSG Sky Chefs, Airside, Bon-Eat-O, Bones & Blades, PermaClub, Slowood and Agrician). Like many F&B businesses, there are all sorts of reasons for food to be wasted, and [it’s] never intentional. Reasons include: bad weather (thus fewer customers), weather-damaged produce, miscalculations, inability to sell before the expiration date, and some of it was the scrapped ends of fruits and vegetables like pineapple peels.

SF: Can you share more about More Food, the location of the event?

CM: More Good is an F&B charity based in Hong Kong that serves hundreds of freshly cooked meals to the elderly, homeless and refugee communities across Hong Kong. Its beneficiaries include Impact HK and Refugee Union. Their location in Chai Wan hosts events to raise money for charities and also doubles as a soup kitchen space where people can volunteer their time to make food for the needy.

SF: Who were some of your favourite partners for this event? Why did you choose to work with them?

CM: With so many sponsors involved, it’s hard to choose. A big shout-out has to go to our food scrap vendors who graciously donated their clean scraps for us to reuse into another meal. We’d have to say our favourite partner had to be More Good.

SF: What worked and what didn’t?

CM: I think everything worked the way we hoped it would, we ran this as a pilot to test if the concept could even work, and it did! In terms of what didn’t work (or what we can improve) is coordinating with restaurants to collect food scraps for the event. Every good dish should involve some sort of protein element and it was really difficult to source that as a scrap. Luckily, on the last day, we had Bon-Eat-O come through with their seafood protein. That’s something we’d have to focus more on next time.

SF: How can you ensure The Rescued Feast’s guests will continue to stay motivated to fight food waste beyond the dinner?

CM: We hope this dinner served as a reminder to guests that food can be given a second life, that sometimes it’s not just a scrap bit of food that can be thrown away. If you’re choosing to eat out, consider ordering less or taking food home to cook into another dish the next day. Research, learn about your food and get creative. Or even easier, use the CHOMP app to save food from restaurants from going to waste instead.

SF: In a perfect world, what’s your goal with this event? Do you want to do more?

CM: Our goal was to bring more awareness to Hong Kong’s massive food waste problem. With the MSW law [which will charge sectors based on the amount of municipal waste they create] getting postponed to August, garbage has been a spotlighted story across the city. Unfortunately, a lot of the focus has been on plastic with the new ban, but the reality is food waste makes up 40% of the landfill, which is more than any other item – and not much has been done to combat this. 

Our aim is to make this event a series and spotlight local vendors, and the food-saving mission.

SF: How aware are people in Hong Kong about food waste?

CM: Unfortunately, not as much as we’d like them to be. With no consequence to waste food, it’s not in a lot of people’s minds. It’s been a struggle to educate on the environmental consequences of food waste on the planet. We’ve seen a shift in mentality over the years through CHOMP, especially in schools and individuals, but there’s still a long way to go.

SF: Why should people care about food waste in Hong Kong?

KL: I think it’s important on numerous fronts. Environmentally, food waste contributes further to greenhouse gas emissions, specifically methane and our environmental footprint. It’s also economic and social, though. Hong Kong spends a lot of money on food that goes to waste, which just means that resources and capital are being tied up on redundant processes and products that aren’t used or consumed. Think about the produce, the delivery, and the processing of the waste.

This is why I think the MSW law is a big step in the right direction. As waste is – for most – such an “out of sight, out of mind” problem, this will really force businesses and individuals to think twice about consumption, including food consumption.

Lastly – and this is something that I feel quite passionate about – it’s also about social equity. In a city like Hong Kong where rent is sky-high and poverty and food insecurity exist, it feels paradoxical to have significantly high levels of food waste when you have people a lot closer than you probably realise who need help.

SF: What does the Hong Kong government need to do to help fight food waste better?

CM: I think improving the public education on the state of the planet and how individuals can affect change too. Support local businesses who are pushing to do good for the city like CHOMP and More Good. Work with local stakeholders such as farmers, food producers and retailers to develop solutions to reduce food waste on every level.

The post CHOMP & TMS Founders Carla Martinesi & Krystal Lai on Tackling Food Waste in Hong Kong appeared first on Green Queen.

The Cakery founder Shirley Kwok speaks to Green Queen about her new businesses shaking up Hong Kong’s plant-based scene: vegan cheese brand Cultured and plant-forward bakery Maya.

Shirley Kwok is one busy lady. Under her entrepreneur belt so far: a cakery, a bakery, and an artisanal cheese brand, and it’s not even been a decade!

And oh, her products range from better-for-you, allergen-friendly, vegan-friendly and diet-inclusive to a combination of all the above. The best part, though? The flavour is – some would say – bomb.

What started as a pop-up cake shop at Hong Kong’s famous commercial complex Landmark in 2016 has now evolved into five locations that offer cakes in all shapes and sizes, for all occasions and diets. But about a year and a half ago, The Cakery was no longer enough for Kwok, a mother of two.

You see, there was this local vegan cheese she loved, but the brand was sadly closing down – a fate that many of the city’s plant-forward businesses have suffered post-pandemic. Kwok was going to buy out that business, but that didn’t pan out. So instead, she created her own artisanal vegan cheese brand.

“I was doing a lot of tests at home,” she tells me. After testing a few different versions, she brought the cheese to work. “Everybody tried and they’re like: ‘Oh, it’s really nice. And I can’t stop eating,'” recalls Kwok. That’s when the thought occurred – maybe there was a real business in all this.

It came to fruition at the end of last year in the form of Cultured, a CPG brand offering kitchen staples like spreadable cheese blocks, cream cheeses, superfood crackers and curried hummus – all vegan.

Inspired by nations, powered by fermentation

As the name suggests, Cultured is rooted in fermentation, blending a base of cashews with probiotics and ageing them to unlock depth, complexity and umami notes. Plus, there’s the good-for-you bacteria and enzymes to support digestion and a strong immune system. “Everyone’s talking about gut health,” notes Kwok.

“The reason why I use the word ‘Cultured’ is because I wanted to bring in all sorts of cultures into this new thing. I want the brand to be inclusive, so it’s for everyone to try,” she tells me. The idea was to blend global cultures with fermentation cultures, with product flavours linked to different parts of the world (truffles are a nod to Italy, jalapeños to Mexico, and so on).

Her decision to make blocks of spreadable cheese over grated/gratable versions was part of a conscious move away from ingredients like agar or cornstarch, keeping her products as clean-label as possible. ethos intact. That is evident when you take a peek at the label: the sundried tomato and roasted garlic cheese, for example, has cashews, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, sundried tomatoes, garlic, salt and probiotics.

The process of making the cheese starts with a 48-hour ferment at room temperature, followed by another two to three days in the fridge, which will make it good to last for at least two weeks. Kwok has tried plenty of nuts, but cashews just work well with the flavour and texture of her current portfolio. “I’m going to start using other nuts,” she adds. Almonds, macadamias, and the like.

But with nut-based cheeses, cost is always an issue. Cultured’s cashew cheeses range from HK$120-135 ($15-17) for less than 200g, which is quite steep. Having said that, it is artisanal cheese, and the prices aren’t much different from high-end conventional counterparts.

“I feel like people who really understand my product should be able to appreciate that,” she says. “Even for my cakes, some people say: ‘Oh, yeah, your cakes are really expensive. But I can tell you use really good ingredients.'”

From The Cakery to a plant-forward bakery

This brings us neatly to the setting of our chat – we’re sat at the site of Maya in the commercial hub that is Taikoo Place. Borrowing similar principles from The Cakery, Maya is Kwok’s newest brand, a bakery with an almost fully plant-based menu. There are vegan versions of local favourites in egg tarts and pineapple buns, international treasures in pistachio croissants and blueberry muffins, and indulgent treats in peanut-butter-filled chocolate cookies.

My favourite part (aside from the flavour, of course) is the price. The vegan egg tart costs HK$18 ($2.30), the pistachio croissant HK$26 ($3.30), and the pandan-fulled pineapple bun HK$22 ($2.80). For high-quality plant-based products, that is excellent pricing. How did Kwok manage to keep prices so low for Maya, especially when Cultured’s rates are relatively high?

“It’s a new concept, and we’re having the shop in a commercial area,” she explains. She was expecting to get some pushback. “I wanted people to give it a try first, and not have a barrier. So then they like it and come back again. But if the price point is too high, they’ll be like: ‘Why would I want to pay so much for something that I’m not even sure whether I would like?'”

It’s a pertinent point for a region where 20% of the population lives in poverty, and inflation has mirrored increases globally, with things costing 2.4% more in December 2023 than the month before. But despite a spate of post-pandemic closures and collapses for plant-based businesses, the demand for vegan food remains, with a June 2023 survey finding that 86% of locals want to see more plant-based options in public places, while 70% don’t think restaurants offer enough meat-free options.

Speaking of which, you may have noticed I described Maya as a bakery with an almost 100% vegan menu. That’s because the menu has one meat-based option: a turmeric chicken sourdough sandwich. “I was debating whether to use ‘fake’ meat,” says Kwok. “But it’s processed, and we really don’t want to use that.” She acknowledges that the menu does have a sandwich with vegan tuna, which she says is “the most processed food in this café”.

“I was also worried that we’re in a commercial area, where probably most of the people are not vegan – I still want to try to accommodate people who are not vegan, you know?” she adds. Explaining her rationale, she says meat-eaters might come to the store and select the chicken sandwich the first time, but they might like it so much that they’d try something else – maybe one of the vegan sandwiches (which incorporate Cultured’s products), quiches or soups – next time. It’s a working example of how flexitarians hold the key to protein diversification.

Kwok isn’t vegan herself but says she really appreciates good plant-based food. “But it’s quite hard to find in Hong Kong,” she tells me. “Even though they say they’re vegan, they’re heavily processed, and I don’t feel healthy after eating it.” It’s a view held by many around the world, with the heightened discourse about ultra-processed foods (UPFs) associating certain vegan foods with ill health – though not all UPFs or plant-based meats are unhealthy. “I try to eat very clean. I prefer wholesome food, rather than really processed food.”

It’s all about the aesthetics – and family

The other reason why Maya isn’t fully vegan is because the espresso bar serves cow’s milk. Don’t worry though, there’s oat and soy too – and the coffee, sourced from a local roaster, is truly great. There are two options: “nutty” and “fruity” (which I assume are layperson’s terms for washed and natural processed coffee, respectively).

Aesthetics are important to Kwok. There’s an underlying pastel theme running through Maya’s exteriors, serveware and the food itself. The hot drinks come in gorgeous stone mugs with golden spoons, with takeaway packaging sourced from local supplier Sustainabl. For iced beverages, there are plastic-free, starch-based straws.

As for the food, take that pistachio croissant, for instance. The top is meticulously half-covered in a pistachio-white chocolate glaze, lined with pistachio pieces. I ask her why she chose to go with an exterior glaze instead of a filling. “I really appreciate things that look nice,” she responds. “So if I put it on top, it can be very catchy.” Traditional croissants can be “shiny and nice”, but it’s hard to replicate that with a margarine-based vegan croissant. So she wanted something that would grab the attention of people standing afar.

But Maya isn’t just a bakery: it moonlights as a bar, with cocktails like Honeybee Gin Tea, Coriander Blast and a classic negroni, alongside craft beers and organic wines. You can grab a vegan cheese platter too, if you’re into that. It’s a whole package, and it makes sense when you consider how personal the brand is to Kwok.

Maya is the name of her 11-year-old daughter, who helped conceptualise the business’s mascot and logo, a bird also called Maya. The new business is a tribute to both her kids, and signals that she’s in it for the long haul. She’s already deep in R&D for future releases (a not-so-subtle hint: if you’re into kimchi and hot sauces, you may be in for a treat).

While Kwok does want to expand eventually, she’s wary that vegan cheese brands in Hong Kong have come and gone, so education for her is key. In the long term, she hopes people recognise she’s trying to help her own community and normalise veganism. “Right now, people are still asking us: ‘Do you have normal cakes?’ Hopefully, in five years, I won’t get those kinds of customers,” she says.

In the end, for Kwok, it’s about convincing people that it’s okay to eat vegan food: “Just give it a try.”

The post Meet the Entrepreneur Taking Hong Kong’s Vegan Bakery & Cheese Scene to the Next Level appeared first on Green Queen.

Christina Dean, founder and CEO of Redress and The R Collective, speaks to Green Queen about the evolution of sustainable fashion, what she’s learnt in her 17 years as an activist, and the impact of online shopping and e-commerce.

A decade ago, we spoke to sustainable fashion icon Christina Dean, founder of the Hong Kong-based charity Redress, who said she felt a personal responsibility towards a green, low-impact lifestyle. “I do what I can throughout my life streams, from the values I teach my children about not wasting resources and about caring about what happens to our future world to the consumption choices I make on a daily basis,” she said.

Then, five years on, we caught up with Dean again, who had begun The R Collective, an offshoot fashion brand from Redress. She reflected upon the future of sustainability, female leadership, and zero-waste supply chains. “We all have a slightly different relationship with fashion, and it is okay. Wherever you are within the fashion industry, make your bit more sustainable,” she suggested.

The Redress charity was founded in 2007 and works on inspiring positive environmental change and promoting sustainability in the fashion industry by reducing textile waste, pollution, water and energy consumption. The R Collective, meanwhile, was launched in 2017 as a circular fashion brand that uses rescued textile waste, sourced from luxury brands, mills and manufacturers and upcycling these materials into elegant clothing pieces. A quarter of its profits go back to Redress. “We all need to satisfy our desire for creativity, but it should not come at the cost of the planet,” Dean explained in 2019.

Now, we touched bases with the activist and entrepreneur again, exploring the changes she’s seen in the fashion industry, her growth as a leader, and the evolution of Redress, 17 years from launch.

This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.

Green Queen: We interviewed you 10 years ago (and five years ago too). A lot of the data shows waste is getting worse. How much has changed when it comes to fashion, waste and the Redress mission?

Christina Dean: Redress is 17 years old, and it was fashion’s horrific waste rates that led me to start an NGO focused on reducing textile waste. I stumbled upon fashion’s waste and pollution problems purely by chance as a journalist writing on environmental pollution. At that time (2005/06), fashion’s waste was a ‘hush-hush’ issue, basically swept under the carpet.

Seventeen years on, the cat’s out of the bag on fashion’s highly wasteful and polluting ways. We have data that makes everyone – from the C-suite to everyday citizens – sit up and take notice. One headline estimates that the equivalent of one dumper truck of textiles is either landfilled or incinerated every second around the world. As if that wasn’t a smack in the face, it’s estimated that textile waste is set to increase by about 60% between 2015 and 2030. Left unchanged, the fashion industry is projected to use 26% of the world’s carbon budget by 2050. So, this spells very bad news for the planet.

So with a worsening situation, you might wonder what on earth have we been doing for 17 years if all that we’re seeing is a worsening textile waste landscape! Yes, the reality can be quite dispiriting because, on a bad day, we might feel like we’re on a sinking ship. But on all good days, which are most of them, we continue to strongly believe that the fashion industry is a highly impactful industry to influence positively, so we forge on.

In terms of our mission, over the last 17 years, we have adapted our first founding mission three times to reflect the changes in the problems and solutions that we seek to influence. We’ve gone from “promote sustainable fashion” to “reduce waste in fashion” to now “accelerate the transition towards a circular fashion system by educating designers and consumers to reduce fashion’s negative environmental impacts”. Despite these apparent changes, the essence of our spirit and resolve is unchanged, and that is, basically, to shift fashion from being a polluter to a pioneer.

GQ: How much have you changed as a leader and activist in that time?

Christina Dean: I’ve grown up so much in 17 years, in so many aspects of my life and work. Looking at the fashion industry, I’ve gone from the early days of pointing angry fingers at various parts of the fashion industry to now wholeheartedly understanding that we must embrace the industry and work within the reality of business and its various parameters. I am very pro-industry as a sustainable way to drive long-term change.

I have also put my pointy fingers away when it comes to consumers. I used to be relatively frustrated and judgmental about what could be considered rather negligent consumers who shop until they drop, so to speak. I am now humbler and more understanding about why consumers love to shop, the deeper psychological desires underpinning this, and I also accept why many are not really that interested in sustainable fashion issues, with so many other competing worries, like how to pay their bills being one obvious example.

I guess 17 years of life – that saw us found Redress and The R Collective and have four kids and get divorced – has given me a better understanding of life and self. So I’m more accepting of the disorder around me, whether that’s in the office, in the supply chain, in an ESG report, or in my own head! Despite this acceptance, I’ve not mellowed at all. I see the urgency to act as being greater than ever before, and so my focus and resolve are as they ever were. I just realise that change happens slowly and that our work is just a few little sprinkles of goodness at this point in time.

GQ: What’s your biggest learning, 17 years later?

Christina Dean: I’ve come to respect the fashion industry, its suppliers, its spinners, weavers, farmers, etc., very deeply, and I see such wonderful and enormous talent, generosity, determination, and humanity and love throughout the business. I’ve met the most incredible activists working in the fastest and cheapest of the big fast-fashion brands; I’ve met recyclers with bigger brains than their machines; and I’ve met CEOs with more conviction for change than prolific activists.

So I’ve come to realise that the humans behind the machines, spreadsheets, steering wheels, and boardrooms of fashion are pretty amazing people, who bring optimism to the challenges at hand. We are all only human, against some inhumanly complex issues, so I’m lucky to work with incredible people.

GQ: Did you plan for Redress to become this big? Was this always your plan or did it get bigger than your original ideas?

Christina Dean: Redress becoming what it is today is a bit of an accident really. When I founded it, I never thought for a moment that 17 years on, I would still be as passionate and excited about the mission as the day I decided to start it. I’m lucky that I am a curious and collaborative person and that this, coupled with a good sense of humour and a glass-half-full nature – which is important when certain things hit the fan! – have enabled Redress to rise from a toddler, tween to teen.

It’s my dream that Redress survives without me – I’m always watching out for that bus; you just never know! We are well on our way now, with a strong board, great executive director and senior management team, and with a longer-term strategy and fundraising approach.

We have a saying at Redress: “I’d rather be a pirate than join the navy.” And this sums up our spirit, so each day remains a hustle in the office as we’re always on our toes for the next rollercoaster ride.

GQ: Did you foresee the negative effects of e-commerce and online shopping?

Christina Dean: Not really. I would not call myself highly astute at consumer trends and habits. That said, it’s obvious that when something becomes cheap and convenient, it takes off. This is as true for takeaways as it is for buying clothes online. So it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the proliferation of e-commerce, especially during COVID, has changed the way we buy clothes – i.e., more, more, more – as indeed e-commerce has changed how some clothes are produced – i.e., more poorer quality fabrics can get away with it online.

I remain shocked by e-commerce’s high return rates, which are around 30% of all purchases globally. I’m personally not a very ‘typical’ fashion consumer, in that I don’t sit around online surfing for clothes that I don’t really want/need, so I find it surprising that people would overconsume styles and sizes and then post clothes back. I’ve seen firsthand the waste this creates because many businesses are unable, for various reasons, to get their customers’ returns back.

The post Q&A with Redress & The R Collective Founder Christina Dean: ‘Our Work is Just a Few Little Sprinkles of Goodness Right Now’ appeared first on Green Queen.

The Year of the Rat is quickly approaching, which means it’s time to take out your Chinese candy boxes out from your cupboards and fill them up with delicious goodies. While we are big fans of the tradition, many of the sweet treats that you’ll find aren’t exactly vegan-friendly. So if you’re wondering what to put in your “tray of togetherness” this year, we’re here to help with these 5 Chinese snacks that are totally plant-based!

1. Melon Seeds (Gua zi)

Melon seeds are traditionally enjoyed during the Lunar New Year because they symbolise abundance and wealth! Not only do they supposedly bring in prosperity, these perfectly snackable (and addictive) black and red seeds are super healthy too – they are super rich in iron, magnesium and folate. 

2. Pistachios (Hoi sum guo)

Pistachios are another completely healthy vegan whole food snack that Chinese families dig into during the Spring Festival. As some of you may know, these delicious nuts are called hoi sum guo in Chinese, which literally translates to “happy nuts.” So make sure to fill your boxes up with some pistachios to spread the joy. 

3. Candied Ginger (Geung tong)

Crystallised ginger or candied ginger is a much-loved traditional Chinese snack. Though enjoyed year-round, these feature in many candy trays because ginger is considered a very healthy food that will bring about longevity in Chinese culture. You can either make your own version at home or find them in most market stalls and Chinese supermarkets. 

4. Mandarins (Gam) 

Of course, mandarins are an iconic fruit that appears every year during the Spring festivities. This is mainly because the Chinese word for mandarins – gam or gum – sounds just like gold, so this mini auspicious fruit is thought to represent good wealth and fortune. Plus, these are so delicious and so healthy!

5. Packaging-Free Vegan Gummies & Chocolate Buttons

We know that most modern Chinese candy boxes are now filled with chocolate coins and gummy candies, so complete your box with some vegan-friendly sweet alternatives. We propose vegan dark chocolate buttons to replace the chocolate coins, and gelatin-free gummies – both of which can be found in the city’s zero-waste bulk food stores. Plus, they come packaging-free so you don’t have to worry about the pesky pile of disposable waste that conventional versions come with.

The post 5 Traditional Vegan Treats To Fill Up Your Chinese New Year Candy Box appeared first on Green Queen.

A new report by marketing activism group Clean Creatives explores how Asia’s fossil fuel industry is failing communities in the region, using greenwashing techniques to shift the blame from its climate impacts. These include loyalty credit cards, lotteries, prize draws, social media campaigns, and PR initiatives.

Clean Creatives, a global initiative to end the communication, marketing and PR sector’s links with the fossil fuel industry, has published its Asia F-List. It documents the companies that choose to keep working with fossil fuel firms despite the glaring evidence of their impact on ecological destruction.

In 2021, for instance, fossil fuel companies were responsible for 90% of all carbon emissions globally. The impact of climate change is obviously being felt everywhere, but the Global South is much more adversely affected, with the Global North being responsible for a higher amount of fossil fuel emissions. In Asia, Singapore is heating up two times faster than the rest of the world, cities are facing alarmingly rising sea levels, and pollution contributes to nearly 2.4 million deaths in India and 2.2 million in China each year.

However, Asia is the fastest-growing region for fossil fuel production and consumption, and its contribution to the planet’s GHG emissions has doubled from 22% in 1990 to 44% in 2019 – faster than the global average.

The Asia F-List covers Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. China was excluded due to “the unique corporate ownership structures and state of media transparency” making it difficult to evaluate the role of fossil fuels there.

It found that British agency WPP has the most contracts with fossil fuel firms than any other holding company (22), followed by New York-headquartered IPG (9). In terms of independent agencies, Indonesia’s Kiroyan Partners has the most contracts at nine.

Indonesia is also the country with the highest number of fossil fuel contracts, with 15. It’s followed by India (11), Thailand (9), Japan (8), Singapore (6), Philippines (6), Malaysia (5), Korea (4), Vietnam (2) and Hong Kong (2).

The report divided campaigns by major polluters into two categories: incentives to buy more, and ‘purpose-washing’.

Credit cards and giveaways to incentivise buying more fuel

Oil and gas companies in Asia use various techniques to reward customer loyalty. In India, for example, “almost every major fuel provider has multiple credit card schemes with different banks, vehicle manufacturers and non-banking financial companies”. When customers spend on fuel, they earn reward points that can be used on future fuel and other purchases – and many sign up for these cards based on their existing relationship with banks.

These cards exist in multiple countries, including Thailand, the Philippines and Japan. In the latter, Cosmo Oil’s Eco Card claims to “convert brand loyalty to environmental action” by donating 0.1% of your fuel or car wash bill, plus ¥500 ($3.64), every year to an environmental conservation fund. “Promoting these cards as a sustainable solution could just be more greenwashing,” the report states.

In addition, some companies use prize campaigns and TV events to incentivise loyalty, “an easy PR tactic for oil and gas companies to improve their reputation and distract from other issues”. In Thailand, for example, Shell organised a 130th Anniversary Mega Lucky Draw through which consumers could win a Porsche car, BMW motorbikes, gold bars, gold necklaces and fuel gift cards – provided they make a purchase at a Shell station.

In Myanmar, to celebrate its 10th anniversary, Denzo’s Lucky Draw programme hosted a giveaway of BMW and Nissan cards, which was broadcast as a celebrity-hosted live TV event with an awards ceremony. To enter the competition, customers needed to spend money on fuel, with one entry for every 10,000 Kyat ($5) spent.

And in the Philippines, Caltex (the APAC brand name for Chevron) organised a Liter Lottery campaign, offering people a free tank of gas if the last digit of the metre matched the last digit of their car’s license plate, leading to a 233% increase in full tank purchases and 198% sales rise. Another fuel company, Seaoil, launched a nationwide campaign – now in its sixth year – where one could win a free lifetime supply of gas.

Purpose-washing customers to distract from fossil fuels’ climate damage

Fossil fuel companies use marketing and PR campaigns to lead people into believing they’re doing good for the planet and society, which encourages customers to feel personally responsible for the climate crisis and take individual action to clean up the sector’s mess.

In South Korea, GS Caltex and ad agency Ideot created an English-language workbook to promote consumer-focused solutions in line with the company’s ‘green supply chain’. They replaced normal text with case studies to show how people can help the environment, distributing the workbook in bookstores and study cafés.

India’s Adani Group released a #ICan campaign in 2021 to urge people to lower their climate impact by asking questions like “Can you lower your carbon footprint?” and “Can you be a partner in fighting global warming?”, deflecting from answering those questions itself. “This type of greenwashing is so insidious and deceptive that it’s even won Adani multiple awards,” states the report.

In Japan, ENEOS launched a broadcast radio show called For Our Earth: One By One to spread awareness about decarbonisation and recycling. Tapping actress Akane Hotta as the host, it sees celebrities learn how we can meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Clean Creatives writes: “This seems to be an example of virtue signalling — indicating ENEOS’ values without considering whether the company is behaving in service of them.”

Indonesia’s Pertamina, meanwhile, runs an Eco RunFest every year, claiming that ticket purchases go towards an initiative helping rural areas use clean energy and improve welfare. But to enter, people need to make a fuel purchase. The company claims that by buying “higher-quality and environmentally friendly fuel”, people can use reward points to get a voucher code and register for the event.

“Their claim that fossil fuels are environmentally friendly is greenwash, but the requirement for people to purchase fuel before participating in an event billed to be “Healthy for Earth” is misleading marketing at its finest,” the report says.

Moreover, some companies organise purpose-washing field trips to show they’re going to local villages and giving back to the less fortunate. In 2018, Shell, Chevron and the international NGO Pact in Myanmar set up the Ahlin Yaung campaign to fund renewable energy and solar projects in 70 villages without electricity, despite Shell being expected to spend $1.2B in offshore exploration and making a profit of $20.7M before tax in 2021 (which is when it ceased operations in the country).

Similarly, PTT and marketing agency CJ Worx planted mangroves in three Thai provinces to restore ecosystems damaged by climate change, “which is ironic since fossil fuel projects would have contributed to that situation”.

Greenwashing the TikTok generation

Fossil fuel corporations are also using social media to go viral among younger populations. In March last year, Caltex and ad firm VMLY&R announced the #CaltexUnstoppableStar rap challenge, featuring rappers from multiple Asian countries. It released a rap song and encouraged people to sing along and create their own videos using AR filters to win prizes like Caltex’s Starcash reward points, a fuel system cleaner and an iPad. Caltex says the campaign received 650 million views within the first 10 days.

In the Philippines, Flying V released two social media challenges. The first, Mr. and Mrs. Flying V, was a TikTok dance challenge inviting people to share videos of them dancing at the gas station, while the Lipad Jump Shot photo challenge asked consumers to share images of them jumping next to a station. But to participate, they had to make a fuel purchase of over PHP 100 ($1.79), with one entry per purchase, encouraging people to spend more to up their chance of winning a PHP 10,000 ($179) cash prize.

The report makes for grim reading, but despite that, its authors believe change is imminent. It cites two agencies that have signed its Clean Creatives pledge, Vero and On Purpose, which joined forces to build a sustainability-focused business pipeline between India and Southeast Asia.

The authors conclude: “We believe we’re at the beginning of a significant cultural shift in the industry and world. People and companies across Asia are advocating for better sustainability regulations, disclosures and education and new alliances are making sustainability a requirement in the marketing and communications industry.”

The post The Asia F-List: How Fossil Fuel Companies are Gaslighting Asians with Greenwashing Campaigns appeared first on Green Queen.

Plant Sifu, Hong Kong’s first locally produced plant-based meat brand, has made impressive strides since launching in late 2021. Now, the food tech company has extended its partnership with the city’s flag carrier, Cathay Pacific, bringing its tasty plant-based pork range to even more travellers across the world.

The consumer-facing brand of Hong Kong foodtech company Good Food Technologies, Plant Sifu, made waves last year when it introduced its next-gen plant-based pork with patented AROMAX^TM fat technology after the parent company closed an oversubscribed HK$12.5M ($1.5M) seed funding round in early 2022. 

Since then, the brand has entered multiple foodservice locations in Hong Kong, showcasing its products at seven of the city’s most reputable Chinese restaurants, before extending its footprint with a partnership at Cafe de Coral-owned Shanghainese chain Shanghai Lao Lao in April. The soup dumpling and fresh noodle chain launched a green plant-based menu featuring Plant Sifu’s pork in all 12 of its locations, marking the first fully vegan menu by the restaurant. The four dishes were so successful that they have become a permanent addition. Additionally, the Asian plant-based brand launched with Fairwood (Hong Kong’s second largest Chinese fast-food chain with 100+ outlets), Nosh (the city’s leading meal delivery service provider), and recently returned to IKEA in Hong Kong and Macau in the form of plant-based siu mai.

But perhaps Plant Sifu’s most notable link-up is with Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s national carrier and a pioneer in food innovation in the airline industry. In July, the two companies collaborated to debut in-flight meals containing Plant Sifu’s plant-based pork.

Plant Sifu in the sky

“Cathay Pacific is not only a global top 10 airline, but also one of Hong Kong’s best-recognised enterprises for culinary innovation and quality,” Joshua Ng, co-founder of Good Food Technologies, told Green Queen in August. “Our ‘taste-first’ and localised approach in product development separated us early on to secure this key partnership,” added co-founder Dr Andrew Leung.

Now, the two brands have extended their link-up with a six-month trial that will see more meals containing the vegan pork appear on the Economy and Premium Economy menus of select long-haul Cathay Pacific flights. These include routes departing from Hong Kong and rotating across North America, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Chefs from the carrier’s Culinary Design team created Chinese and Asian dishes by using all formats of Plant Sifu’s pork, including mince and bites. Think braised egg tofu with pork mince and shiitake mushrooms, and wok-fried mince with Thai basil, morning glory and vegetarian sambal.

“Plant Sifu is proud to be Cathay Pacific’s selected partner to serve their Premium Economy and Economy class globally,” said Ng. “This is also a first for Hong Kong food innovation with global impact.”

The collaboration is part of Cathay Pacific’s wider Greener Together strategy, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality and battle climate change. In August, it worked with Hong Kong vegetarian restaurant Veda, part of the Ovolo Hotel Group, to create 16 meat-free dishes for the carrier’s in-flight menu.

It was part of Cathay Pacific’s ‘The difference is in the detail‘ campaign, which aims to elevate its in-flight dining experiences and improve its wellness and sustainability credentials, as well as supports its long-term partnership with Hong Kong environmental charity The Green Earth, helping travellers “make better lifestyle choices for the planet”.

In February of this year, Cathay Pacific launched a First and Business Class menu with Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Duddell’s, also one of Plant Sifu’s partners.

Contributing to a healthier, more sustainable planet

Plant Sifu began by focusing on cleaner plant-based alternatives catering to Asian diets and cooking applications, starting with pork and dim sum. All Plant Sifu products are free from MSG, preservatives, refined sugar, and genetic modification. The secret to its superior juiciness and texture? The company’s fat tech AROMAX^TM. “After extensive research with chefs, it was clear that pork fat and lard are quintessential ingredients in Chinese and Asian recipes,” said Leung.

“However, they come along with health hazards of high fat and high cholesterol commonly associated with heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Therefore, our team went on to invent AROMAX^TM  – using konjac gelatin structures locked with flavours and aromas to mimic fatty pork.”

In terms of sustainability, the brand claims that independent life-cycle assessments have shown that its meat products use at least 75% fewer resources compared to their conventional counterparts, and are hence more planet-friendly.

Working with Cathay Pacific extends its mission to “feed the world sustainably”. Plant Sifu truly is soaring – both figuratively and literally.

This is a Green Queen Partner Post.

The post Plant Sifu is Flying High: Hong Kong Plant-Based Pork Maker Partners with Cathay Pacific for In-Flight Meals appeared first on Green Queen.

It’s not known as Asia’s World City for nothing – Hong Kong has some of the best food the planet has to offer, from starred Michelin establishments to comfort-food dai pai dongs. But what does it offer vegans? Plenty it turns out, you’ve just got to know where to look. Here’s a guide to plant-based eating in the city, whatever cuisine you’re after, any time of the day – the best eateries, bubble tea, dessert parlours and pizza, tried and tested by yours truly.

I lived in London for six years, one of the world’s most exciting cities to eat in, with a pretty fantastic vegan food scene to boot. From holes in the walls to renowned plant-based gastronomy, London’s got it all, no matter the cuisine.

So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I arrived in another ‘global city’ – Asia’s, I mean – and found an absolutely staggering amount of incredible plant-based food. Hong Kong is jam-packed with a plethora of vegan food experiences and eateries that will leave you in awe. Of course, Cantonese food and dim sum are God’s gift to us, but Asia’s World City has something for everyone.

As I write this from Bali – another next-level plant-based culinary hotspot – I’m already looking back and reminiscing at my time in Hong Kong, and I’ve marked out which places I’m going to when I return to the city, whether it’s the first time or a revisit. If you end up there before me – or if you’re just a local looking for a handy list of the best plant-based eats – I’m here to help.

Note: this is not an exhaustive list, just a collection of places/dishes I tried and loved. It’s not a vegan-specific list either, in fact, most of the places mentioned are not 100% vegan. There are some great dedicated vegan restaurants in the city, but I was not able to try them all. If you are looking for an exhaustive list, try the Happy Cow Hong Kong site.

Chinese food favourites (including dim sum)

Let’s start with dim sum then, shall we (or yum cha as locals say)? Veggie Kingdom is a traditional dim sum place in Tsim Sha Tsui, the kind where you tick what you want to order with a pencil and are given hot water to wash your utensils. There’s a wonderful tea that accompanies the meal – though there’s an added cost and they bring it by default. Try the shredded turnip puffs, the vegan shrimp dumplings and the mushroom-filled rice noodle rolls – beware though that there might be a couple of elements (like the mayo for the tofu toast) that aren’t vegan.

On the dim sum front, LockCha has multiple locations and a fully vegetarian dim sum menu too. The traditional teahouse has a killer siu mai and we love the triple treasure wrappers. Plus, the tea is excellent too!

For a quick and budget-friendly lunch, Shanghai Lao Lao’s plant-based menu (in partnership with local alt-meat brand Plant Sifu) is a steal. We can’t get enough of the xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), dan dan noodles and mapo tofu. The mochi-like dessert rolled in toasted sesame flour is the ideal meal ending.

Tea, coffee and cafés

Speaking of tea, if you’re a bubble tea fan, Hong Kong is home not just to one but two 100% vegan pearl milk tea chains! Mother Pearl is hands down my favourite pearl tea spot ever – and it now has six stores across the city so I am clearly not the only one. With a signature gourmet wellness twist, Mother Pearl serves up some stunningly pretty concoctions (ideal for you Insta-foodies), which are equally delicious too. There are so many highlights, it’s hard to pick, but I’d say the Crush on Gold, Soul Full of Sunshine, Glimpse of Sunburst and the Po Mylk Tea are must-haves. Oh, and the mochi cookies (made from their leftover homespun plant-based milks) are otherworldly.

The other bubble tea chain to try is Nuttea. Its signature five-nut cream – which tastes like a nicer Nutella but somehow contains no chocolate – works on every single menu item. The menu itself is expansive, but all I’d say is, whatever flavour you pick, choose the nut cream on top. That’s the best part.

And while we’re on drinks, if you’re looking for a great cup of aesthetically pretty coffee that doesn’t charge you extra for oat milk (but does carry a dairy surcharge), Clean Coffee is your friend. Fineprint doesn’t put a levy on oat either (although soy has an added cost) in any of its locations – and I daresay these two are among the best – if not the very best – speciality coffee shops in Hong Kong.

Delicious dinner date spots that span the region

Mak Mak, the Thai restaurant in Central’s Landmark, has a fail-safe vegetarian menu that is ideal for large group gatherings. Come for the pink pomelo and shallot salad and summer rolls (with two dipping sauces), and stay for the most deceptively innocent-looking, flavour-bomb fried rice you’ll ever find. And finish with the gorgeous mango sticky rice – Mak Mak uses butterfly pea powder to give the rice a strikingly midnight blue tone, and tops it with a perfectly ripe mango and some sweteened condensed coconut milk.

Speaking of which, Chilli Fagara is an upscale Szechuan restaurant in Soho that’s ideal for anyone visiting the city. The 11-time Michelin Guide-recommended establishment has an excellent vegan menu with dozens of options including the option to swap out meat for Impossible Foods’s alternative in a range of dishes. The menu is divided into three sections with non-spicy options for those who aren’t as comfortable with the numbing powers of those famous peppercorns. The lettuce wraps, mapo tofu and sweet and sour eggplants are a must-order.

I loved my meal at Isoya in Wan Chai, a fine dining plant-based restaurant that serves fixed vegetarian tasting menus, which can be made vegan upon request. We loved our tofu taster plate, somen noodles, sushi assortment and what turned out to be the single greatest raw tomato I’ve ever had.

From kathi rolls to bánh mì, where to grab a vegan-friendly lunch

If you’re looking for a decent bánh mì, look no further than Le Petit Saigon‘s tofu version over in Star Street. Nearby is the fast-casual Indian street food concept Bengal Brothers, whose chickpea kathi roll (think a desi version of a kebab wrap) is a filling and tasty lunch, or you can grab a slice or three of new pay-by-weight Roman pizza joint Alice Pizza which has a few vegan-friendly offerings including sliced eggplant, sliced potato and marinara.

Of course, for whole-food healthy vibes, Hong Kong’s resident plant-based lunch spot Treehouse never disappoints. Now with three locations (Central, Taikoo Place and Causeway Bay), its addictive bowls, burgers and flats make for a perfect midday boost.

More of an al-desko sort? Give chef Tina Barrat’s raw-vegan forward lunch delivery a try. The French chef talent behind the now-closed Ma… and the Seeds of Life and one of Hong Kong’s earliest raw food pioneers, serves up a weekly changing menu of both raw and cooked dishes that are as delicious as they are nourishing. Order one to two days before via Whatsapp and it will be delivered to you in time for lunch at work. Think dishes like Nobu-style miso aubergine with black rice and edamame, Recommended: the zucchini gnocchi with cheesy basil pesto and fresh sprouts, the miso aubergine with black rice and edamame and the smoked tomato soup with homemade almond butter. Barrat opened Hong Kong’s first vegan cheese shop too, so give her range of nut-based wheels a whirl (the Shamembert is addictive).

If neo-hipster cafe is your vibe, then I’d be remiss not to mention the popular (and always full) spots by the Years group, across five locations (with a few in trendy Sham Shui Po), the restaurants offer up vegan-friendly menus of local and international fare (from burgers to katsu sandos) that are worth the queue.

For dedicated vegan pizza, head to the newly-opened Mayse in Jordan, a Latvian family-run bakery whose first outpost out in Tai Mei Tuk is always rammed on weekends. The pizzas are reminiscent of family-owned trattorias back in Italy, with spelt crusts and vegan mozzarella. They also do excellent bread, from ciabatta loaves, cornmeal, wholewheat or rye sourdough and even baguettes, and offer paninis and sandwiches to boot.

Off-the-beaten-path vegan food experiences

If you’re an adventurous foodie looking for a unique dining experience, Hong Kong more than delivers. At the African Center in Kowloon, you can join an all-you-can-eat buffet-style group dinner of Pan-African or Ethiopian (injera for life!), or grab a few friends and book fully vegan meals for what might be the best bang for your buck (under HK$300 a head and BYOB sans corkage).

An experience not to miss (IF you can secure a spot) is Olive Leaf, a private kitchen that hosts cooking classes and vegan Middle Eastern brunches. Tucked away on the least busy side of Lamma Island and a short ferry trip from Aberdeen, Israeli chef Ayelet Idan welcomes you to her cosy, warm home and lush garden for an hours-long vegetarian (can be made vegan) meal that you will dream about for months afterwards. From almond labneh to smoked eggplant dips to vine leaf cakes, it’s Middle Eastern food heaven!

Marvellous plant-based desserts

Talking about alt-dairy, if you’re looking for ice cream, So Coco is a shrine to coconuts. While it has a bunch of retail products (in shops like City’super) it has a café-style location in Causeway Bay. Its signature coconut ice cream comes in a bunch of flavours that can act as a base of milkshakes too. Additionally, there are ‘coconut beverages’ that can be topped with elements like coconut meat and jelly. The showstopper, however, is the signature bowl: it’s coconut ice cream or pudding served in a young coconut with a choice of grass jelly, red bean, tapioca and taro, alongside coconut meat. It’s ridiculously refreshing.

In terms of other dessert places, Moono is a spot in Tsim Sha Tsui that is famous for its vegan mooncakes, tarts and whole cakes. Oh, it also does a Tiramiso (get it?) in an edible cookie cup, which is unmissable. Finally, Bien Caramélisé is a classic French patisserie with options that are as delectable as they are beautiful. Chef Jessica Chow, who trained in Paris, makes everything herself from her vegan butter to the puff pastry and it’s truly outstanding stuff. It’s mostly by delivery though there’s a pop-up shop in Mong Kok that’s sometimes open on weekends though it’s by appointment only so make sure to book. There are choux, macarons, tarts and even vegan éclairs – what more do you need? Pro tip: the hazelnut cream millefeuille will rock your world.

This is just a snapshot of some of the best vegan-friendly food Hong Kong has to offer. Suffice it to say, it’s very hard to be disappointed by the city’s culinary offerings, wherever you go so, happy tasting.

The post Plant-Based World City: A Food Lover’s Guide to Hong Kong’s Best Vegan Eats appeared first on Green Queen.

A high-school student has developed Beach Board Hong Kong, a Monopoly-style game that sheds light on the environmental issues faced by the island’s beaches. Featuring damning pollution facts, action prompts to tackle these challenges, it’s an innovative tool to help educate local schoolchildren about beach pollution, with all proceeds donated to charity.

Last year, Carmel School’s Elsa High School campus organised a beach cleanup involving its students, who were told to pick up trash, albeit with little knowledge about how human actions on beaches impact the environment in these spaces. One of the students, Hinako Nishi, felt it wasn’t enough for children to know that collecting rubbish is a good thing – they need a deeper understanding of the root issue.

This was the springboard for Beach Board Hong Kong, which began as a school project last year and is now a full-fledged board game on sale. Nishi wanted to provide children with an interactive way to learn about how pollution affects beaches, and how their actions can create positive change.

The game features a Monopoly-style board spotlighting 18 Hong Kong beaches, with players who land on each becoming the owners. They receive a property card highlighting specific environmental issues and prompting them to take action. As in Monopoly, where you receive rent when others land on your property, Beach Board Hong Kong has players exchange tokens or move their pawns further or back – whoever gets to 15 tokens wins.

Spotlighting pollution on Hong Kong’s beaches

The beaches include Repulse Bay, Turtle Cove, Lo So Shing, Lower Cheung Sha and Clear Water Bay – to name a few – with highlighted issues reading: “A palm oil spill occurred, having serious health effects on the heat of the fish in the ocean! Players that stop here will volunteer to clean up the leftovers of the dead fish and the palm oil” for Lo So Shing, and “Studies have shown the number of pink dolphins have been decreasing due to water pollution. But, the lucky player shave spotted pink dolphins from this beach” for Lower Cheung Sha.

These cards mirror real problems and events that Hong Kong’s beaches have faced in the past, or are currently undergoing. Positive-impact action prompts include “Find something in your pencil case that may be harmful to the environment” or “Brainstorm a way to reduce plastic pollution during the Dragon Boat Festival”.

Instead of Chance and the Community Chest, Beach Board Hong Kong has Q Cards, where players answer marine-environment-related questions (like “How long does it take for a beach to completely recover after a typhoon“), and Tools spaces where one can obtain elements that have a positive environmental impact, like solar panels.

Nishi, a grade 11 student who funded the game with her personal savings and a loan from her parents, worked with a freelance graphic designer from Brazil. “I gave him a rough idea of how I wanted the design outcome of my board game to be, and he helped me incorporate it into the visual design,” she says.

She play-tested the game with primary schoolchildren, friends and family to receive feedback during development. “As I implemented the feedback I gained from these sessions, I am confident that this game is able to efficiently educate children,” says Nishi. “I plan on creating more opportunities to get my game played by different students inside and outside of my school, throughout this academic year.”

Partnering with marine pollution charity

She hopes to sell the board game, which is currently on sale online, in Hong Kong bookstores in the near future. All proceeds from be donated to marine environmental charities, with the first batch of sales going to local environmental non-profit A Plastic Ocean Foundation, which Nishi has collaborated with on the project.

“A Plastic Ocean Foundation provided me with valuable advice during the development process, including marine information and localisation of content, so as to ensure the game is suitable for my target audience,” she explains. “[It] also will help me this academic year to promote the game to different schools and reach a wider audience with its networks around Hong Kong.”

A portion of the proceeds will go to support A Plastic Ocean Foundation’s #OneTonneLess shoreline cleanup to restore Hong Kong’s coastlines. The organisation will help promote the game to different schools via webinars and in-person workshops. “We hope to reach a wider audience and increase awareness of marine environmental issues in Hong Kong through the game,” says Nishi.

Like other sustainability- and climate-related board games, including Life of Ordinary People and Net Zero Game 2050, Beach Board Hong Kong is an encouraging initiative fighting serious environmental challenges. Hong Kong has long had an air pollution problem, while its packaging habits have also swamped its seas. The city’s beaches play a massive role in ocean pollution too, with microplastic levels 40% higher than the global average, at 5,600 pieces per sq m.

It’s these issues that Nishi wants to raise awareness about, and inspire action from. “By creating conversations and discussions on marine-environment-related topics, the game encourages players to share knowledge, ideas and solutions, and for them to make positive changes in their own daily lives and communities,” she says. “I hope this board game will motivate individuals to become active participants in protecting and preserving our oceans and promoting a sustainable future.”

Beach Board Hong Kong is currently available for sale via its website for HK$ 220.

The post Hong Kong High School Student Creates Board Game to Highlight City’s Beach Pollution appeared first on Green Queen.

Mother Pearl, which opened in 2020 as Hong Kong’s first vegan bubble tea shop, is an outlier in the space. On the heels of opening its fifth location in the city this Monday, and ahead of launching the sixth store this weekend, its founder Po Chen bursts the bubble on the health aspects of her teas, why almost everything is made in-house, and her ultimate goal for the brand.

I’m not going to lie to you. I’m a bubble tea person. I don’t know what it is: the chewy boba (which refers both to the drink category and the black tapioca pearls themselves) that never seems to end, or that moment when a refreshing pearl pops a surprise in your mouth and leaves you wanting more, or just the endless list of flavours to choose from. Heck, my mom loves bubble tea – so maybe it’s just genetics?

Either way, while I was always a fruity bubble tea drinker, I’ve never been one for the milky pearl tea. The only way I stomach tea with milk is if it’s chai, and it needs to be hot. Milk in my bubble tea has always been a no-no. So of course someone had to come along and prove me wrong. So wrong, in fact, that the frequency with which I went to Mother Pearl, Hong Kong’s foremost vegan bubble tea brand, in my two-week trip to the city was frankly embarrassing.

This is all thanks to Po Chen, who founded what she calls a “wellness brand” in 2020 and made me question all my food opinions after turning me into a milk tea fanatic in the space of mere days. In a city with tons of bubble tea establishments, Mother Pearl stands out.

Could it be the fact that it’s fully plant-based? Or that its good-for-you teas contain low-GI sugars and superfood boba pearls? Could it be that everything is made in-house, from scratch? Honestly, it’s probably all of that and more. It is, as Chen calls it, “weird but magical”.

Let me just lay my case forward with some of the picture-perfect, ultra-colourful menu options. There’s the Glimpse of Sunburst, a limited-edition drink with mango, pomelo, passionfruit, coconut nectar and froth, oat-cashew milk, blue spirulina and pink salt syrup, and blue spirulina chia seed jelly. The Pot of Gold is an oat-cashew masala chai with a turmeric spice blend, ginger molasses jelly, turmeric, activated charcoal tapioca and coconut froth. And then there’s the signature Po Mylk Tea, a condensed coconut milk and Keemun rose tea base complemented by homemade oat-cashew milk, charcoal tapioca, grass jelly, chia seeds and rose petals.

Need I say more?

A focus on health and wellness

I meet Chen at Mother Pearl’s flagship in Hong Kong Central. It’s a quaint little store clad with wood all around. The exterior is dirty green, and the whole thing looks like a giant jukebox or even a pretty vintage toaster oven. Inside, there’s a section with lights that look like – are you ready? – giant tapioca pearls. And if that wasn’t enough bubble brainwashing, there stands Chen, in an all-black outfit with a striking red pearl necklace.

We take a walk in the busy street, and march uphill. Chen tells me Mother Pearl was born out of her children’s adoration for bubble tea, and her own hatred for protein shakes. “My kids love bubble tea – who doesn’t?” she posits, understandably. “Like, you have this chewy little thing, it’s kind of cute. But I know that I can’t feed them sugar all the time. It would just be irresponsible. I would just jokingly say: ‘Oh, what if Mommy can make a bubble tea brand? You can just drink it all day every day.'”

This, combined with the shit her gym trainer was giving her for her lack of tofu-eating (“You need more protein, or you’re never going to build the muscle you want”), is what sparked the idea. “What if I could make this protein, nutritious drink into something I can drink?” she recalls thinking. “Bubble tea!”

It’s why she uses better-for-you sweeteners, such as coconut nectar, blackstrap molasses and monkfruit sugar, and superfood ingredients like moringa, chia seeds, activated charcoal and blue spirulina. Mother Pearl also makes most of its ingredients, including the milks and boba, in-house (only nate de coco and some seasonal ingredients are sourced externally, but locally).

I ask her why. “Because I have to drink it! My kids have to drink it!” exclaims Chen, honing in on the healthy aspect of the bubble teas. “That was my intention – I wasn’t thinking about making this chain.” But a chain it is now, and a wildly successful one at that. The brand launched around the same time as Covid-19 became a widespread pandemic, and while the grab-and-go aspect of bubble tea made it slightly easier, the going was still tough.

Initially, Chen was helped by her sister and her sister’s husband (who is a chef). Raw materials, wages and rent made up most of the business’s costs, and it was haemorrhaging money in the first couple of years. It was only when Chen’s sister left to focus on her family that she realised she had to make it on her own. With no experience in F&B or finance, she began looking at the numbers (“I really hated numbers”), and figured out that she had to open more stores in order to break even.

Three years in, the brand just soft-launched its fifth store in Hong Kong’s Mongkok neighbourhood this week. And this Sunday, it will see a sixth store soft-open at East Point City, before a full opening for both locations on October 1. Moreover, Mother Pearl has expanded its manufacturing lines, moving to a bigger central kitchen, from a 1,500 sq ft space to a 6,000 sq ft one.

Homemade, homemade, homemade

We circle back towards the aspect of homemade ingredients, just as we see a newly married couple getting a photoshoot in the middle of the cobbled street. The brand makes its own tapioca pearls – and while it’s common for bubble tea brands to soak their boba in a brown sugar syrup, it’s obviously not how Mother Pearl rolls. “We use coconut nectar with alkaline water,” Chen tells me. Why the latter? Because – you guessed it – “I have to drink it”.

Another element developed in its central kitchen is the ‘mylk’ bases, which include almond, oat and cashew, and golden oat. But surely it’s cheaper to buy alt-milk? “Of course!” says Chen. “But I know for a fact that packaged milk is, like, 2% ingredients?” The bubble tea brand’s milks contain a much higher percentage of the base ingredient – for example, its almond milk contains 55% of the nuts, while the oat and cashew blend has 58% of the two ingredients. Pink salt, a little coconut oil and dates make up the rest of the composition.

In addition to all this, Mother Pearl has a low-waste ethos in its operations. So the leftover pulp from making these vegan milks is usually put to use in its food and bakery offerings. Right now, Chen’s team is dehydrating this pulp into flour to develop a ravioli (production name: “Pearlioili”) and plant to use it for dishes like empanadas and almond crackers in its catering menu (it has hosted events for Bloomberg and Lululemon, and is soon to do one for Mercedes-Benz), and sells this flour too.

This kind of innovation is a constant for the brand. The reason we’re in the street is because the store is having an R&D session at the back. The team is currently testing a vegan ice cream and a range of craft coffee drinks, and eventually wants to introduce SKUs on supermarket shelves too.

But to make this circular model work, something had to give. There won’t be any cashew milk available at the new Mongkok store, which will instead focus just on the almond and oat milks, because “I need enough pulp”. It’s a testament to the brand’s commitment to its low-waste principles – how many businesses out there pivot their offerings to maintain circularity?

Speaking of waste, Mother Pearl does use plastic takeaway cups at the moment. Chen’s head falls back, as she looks to the sky in annoyance. “I’m so frustrated,” she tells me. Before launching, the brand bought thousands of PLA cups as they could be recycled at a nearby plant, but that facility shut down right before the first store opened. And while it does encourage refills for the milks it sells, provides a $2 discount for bringing your own cup, and recycles the cups customers drink in-store, the packaging material is something Chen wants to change, and has had regular talks with her financial team about.

Consolidation, fundraising and international expansion

Asia is, of course, the home continent for bubble tea (it originated in Taiwan in the 80s). Southeast Asians spend $3.66B on bubble tea each year. Hong Kong itself has over 100 brands and 1,000 bubble tea shops, according to one estimate. How does Mother Pearl keep up?

“We’re just very different. We use real food to make this drink, it’s not chemicals,” states Chen, before adding: “It is called ‘bubble tea’, but it’s a wellness brand.” Mother Pearl was part of her larger Po House brand – a confluence of sustainable fashion, green beauty and bubble tea.

“Nobody was buying clothes,” she says. “And also, I was actually telling people not to buy clothes.” So she decided to close the clothing brand. The beauty side of the business is fully e-commerce and outsourced to a central office in Canada (though Chen still makes the decisions).

The popularity of bubble tea has now transcended continents. It’s a global market that’s expected to surpass $4B in value by 2030. Chen tells me she’s already had requests to open Mother Pearl in places like Vancouver, Seattle, London, Shanghai, Thailand and Japan. Is she tempted to expand internationally?

You bet she is, but she remains a cautious, pragmatic operator. Chen first wants to consolidate and strengthen the brand’s foothold in its home city. She says it will need a better and bigger production line, a more diverse food and drinks menu, an increased workforce, and more investment before she looks elsewhere.

Mother Pearl, which she funded herself, has had interest from investors, but Chen doesn’t want to franchise the stores in a way that compromises her vision. “It would need to be a viable business [model] for me to make that happen. We’ll still operate the store, but they can be a silent investor.”

But do you want to know her grand plan? “Oh,” she sighs, head shaking. “It’s going to be crazy. I’ve always wanted to have Mother Pearl and my clean beauty brand to merge together and become a public company.” Chen has never felt like a businesswoman, but she says it’s time to get rid of that thinking. Mother Pearl aims to run a fundraising round in April 2025 and plans to use that investment to further its IPO goals.

“I know, it’s such an ambitious thing,” she notes. “But then, like, life is short.”

The post ‘It’s a Wellness Brand’: Mother Pearl’s Po Chen Spills the Tea on Hong Kong’s First Vegan Bubble Tea Chain appeared first on Green Queen.