Kau Kee Food Factory Opens First Retail Store After 66 Years of Wholesale Operations

Anita Lee Yan-kwan grew up around a traditional business that supplied fish balls to Hong Kong’s street food stalls and eateries. But for decades, Kau Kee Food Factory’s signature product was known only among industry operators until Lee, a second-generation owner, opened the company’s first retail store late last year.

Kau Kee has operated as a silent giant in the food industry for 66 years, supplying its fish balls to nearly 1,000 eateries and snack stalls across the city. But it finally opened its first bricks-and-mortar shop in Mong Kok last December.

“Before opening the retail shop, if you were to ask people about Kau Kee on the street, they would probably not know about it,” Lee said. “Yet it’s likely almost every Hongkonger has eaten our fish balls.”

The 30-year-old politics graduate and former civil servant made a career pivot during the Covid-19 pandemic and took charge of the family business even as mask mandates and social distancing rules crippled the street food scene.

It left Kau Kee, which was relying solely on manufacturing and wholesaling at the time, in a precarious position as orders from food stalls dropped drastically.

“Our business took a really big hit and was severely affected. Since everyone was wearing masks, they stopped eating fish balls on the street. With the economy being so poor, people were spending less money overall,” Lee said.