High priced fruit gifts a local tradition

If you hand a client or civil servant a HK$500 lai see packet, there might be an awkward moment. The recipient may turn it down, or ask for permission from their boss. But what if you offer the same person a HK$458 artisanal Japanese melon, or perhaps a HK$1,288 fruit hamper?

Most likely there would be no problem. Fruit giving is such an ingrained part of the Lunar New Year holiday that few see it as an inducement of any kind, no matter the cost. Expensive Japanese fruit serves as a form of lai see. The gifts are appreciated by recipients and fly under the ethics radar. Offices fill up with hampers stuffed with fruit sent by clients with a money relationship to recipients.

The items can be extremely costly - anyone who has visited the city's upmarket grocery chains this time of year will know this. Melons sell in the realm of HK$400. Wellcome sells Fuji apples for HK$4.95 each but extra large Fuji apples engraved with lucky Chinese characters are more than double that price, at HK$10.80 apiece. A box of 12 Japanese strawberries fetches HK$688 at City'super.

Certainly the fruit is valued. Jasmine Chan, brand manager for clothing label Marco Visconti, has received three fruit baskets in recent weeks. She is usually given them during Lunar New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival. These are not everyday fruit. "The strawberries and grapes are larger than usual. They're attractive - no blemishes - and they have a rich colour. The pears are huge and extra sweet."

The supermarkets wheel out huge displays for all the major holidays invariably involving giant, perfect looking Japanese produce swaddled in plastic and foam. Annie Chan, a fruit and vegetable buyer for City'super, says the best luxury fruit hamper sale times are Mid-Autumn festival, then Lunar New Year, Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.

City'super sells the hampers for between HK$888 and HK$1,288. There is a distinct hierarchy to the produce. Hongkongers pay a premium for anything from Japan, says Chan, and anything organic. "Consumers know that Japanese goods are high quality and there are strict safety regulations. Even if you grow the same variety in China, consumers won't trust them."