Meet Hong Kong’s rubber baron: the colourful king of condoms

A warehouse space in Fo Tan is packed with box upon box of condoms. It’s also the office of Wonder Life, the only Hong Kong company producing the male contraceptives exclusively for the local, Macau and mainland markets. It may be an underdog in an industry dominated by the likes of Durex and Japanese brand Okamoto, but Wonder Life claims to have a broader range of flavours than any rival – including fruity ones such as strawberry and banana, and even cappuccino.

Wonder Life, which also makes pregnancy kits and pleasure-enhancing lubricant gels, was founded by entrepreneur Albert Cheng Leung-cheong, 68, who has been in the condom business since 1978.

After Cheng finished studying in Canada, he returned to Hong Kong and started working in a bank, but he missed interacting with people.

“My salary at the time was HK$3,700 a month and I quit that steady job to do sales for HK$500,” he says. “My friends thought I was crazy, but I got a job selling air freight and went out every day to see customers.”

After about two years learning the ropes in sales, Cheng decided to start his own business and began selling cotton buds. Then the supplier introduced him to the idea of selling condoms made by Taiwanese brand Fulex.

“The first month I only made HK$2,000 selling condoms – less than my salary,” he recalls with a laugh. “I was so busy doing everything myself – sales, delivery, orders. I had no money to set up an office so I borrowed space in my older brother’s company.”