Hong Kong craft brewers advocate for on-site tasting permits

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Hong Kong craft beer manufacturers, including Yardley Brothers founder Luke Yardley, requested a review of Food and Environmental Hygiene Department licensing regulations to allow on-site alcohol tasting. The push for reform followed an incident where a brewery declined a visit from a 100-strong South Korean tour group because they lacked the necessary permits to serve alcohol on their premises. Many manufacturers currently operate in industrial buildings under food factory licences, which complicates the process of obtaining standard liquor licences. Industry leaders and a local lawmaker argued that modernizing these regulations could help stimulate the city’s tourism economy.

Consequences

If the licensing regime remains unchanged, breweries will continue to miss opportunities for direct-to-consumer sales and tourism revenue. Amending these rules could allow manufacturers to integrate on-site experiences into their business models, similar to practices in cities like London, New York, and Dublin.

Sources

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