As Hong Kong businesses were rocked, and some bankrupted, by the Covid-19 virus, sales at Hong Kong’s supermarkets – including dominant chains Wellcome and ParknShop – have seen year-on-year profits
improve in the six months to June 30.
Is it not then utterly disgraceful that Wellcome and ParknShop actually applied for and received government subsidies of over
HK$100 million (US$13 million) each during the period?
This is taxpayers’ money, meant for the relief of struggling businesses and their staff, not for inflating the already absurd profits of fabulously wealthy multinationals.
I compared the retail prices of a Waitrose range of products as sold in Britain, against the ParknShop prices of the exact same products. Remember these are Waitrose retail prices, ParknShop will be paying 30-40 per cent less, on a wholesale basis.
I deliberately chose only canned and packaged products which are shipped by container and whose cost of freight is negligible. Comparing prices in Hong Kong dollars at the exchange rate of £1 = HK$10.20, this is what I found:
An 80s pack of tea bags, sold at HK$12.24 in Waitrose, was HK$36.90 at ParknShop, a mark-up of more than 200 per cent. A HK$3.57 can of baked beans was HK$17 in Hong Kong, marked up by 376 per cent. Similarly, for items ranging from kidney beans, soup and chickpeas to cinnamon sticks, the mark-up was anything between 142 per cent and 242 per cent.
Now, apparently they are considering applying for the second round of government subsidies. Is there no end to the greed of these companies?
And what on earth is our so-called Competition Commission doing? Set up eight years ago, the commission received HK$105 million in government subvention for the year ended March 31, 2019, the last year for which figures are available.
Their mission statement is to “prevent anticompetitive agreements, practices and conduct”. Yet they have not noticed that our
supermarket duopoly is ripping off the public?
Trevor Hughes, Pok Fu Lam
How about ‘Made in Hong Kong, China’?
With all the
discussion about “Made in Hong Kong” and “Made in China”, maybe a simple solution would be to label products made in the city as “Made in Hong Kong, China”. That would be entirely accurate, and surely keep all sides happy?
While the
actions taken by the US administration are thoroughly disagreeable, we have enough challenges on our plate at the moment. Our energy will be better spent on helping businesses get back on their feet and guiding the government on how best to navigate the tricky waters of keeping businesses alive while stemming the tide of Covid-19.
Colin Dawson, Central
