Hong Kong-based Swiss chocolate maker battles through Covid-19 pandemic to enjoy best Christmas in 3 years
- Swiss entrepreneur Jurg Meier has been running Gourmet House, a chocolate and bread factory, in Chai Wan for nearly three decades
- The company did not lay off a single employee since the pandemic began, even after sales plunged by as much as 80 per cent as orders dried up
There is a buzz of activity on the factory floor of Gourmet House, one that was missing since the pandemic began three years ago.
Jurg Meier and his team of 100 employees are immersed in churning out hundreds of handcrafted chocolates, pastries and breads using traditional Swiss recipes at the factory, which has been operating in the light industrial area of Chai Wan since 1994.
“Christmas is back,” Meier, the 62-year-old Swiss national and owner, said in an interview with the Post. The company has been busy this month fulfilling orders for individual customers, restaurants, offices, airlines and five-star hotels in Hong Kong.
Stringent border control measures between Hong Kong and the mainland have taken a toll on the city’s economy over the past three years, with a dearth of tourists from across the border affecting local businesses.
Gourmet House saw revenue slump as much as 80 per cent during this period, as orders that typically came from corporate customers, hotels and airlines ran almost completely dry.