Among the latest to join the hydroponics pack is restaurateur Ken Yuen Chi-hin. His Fresh & Green restaurant, which opened in a Fotan industrial building last September, features 400 sq ft of space devoted to growing salad vegetables.
Occupying a temperature- and humidity-controlled room with light from LED tubes, the liquid-filled racks produce 3kg of greens daily - a fraction of what big restaurants would need but just enough for his Italian-style eatery.
Setting up his own hydroponics facility ensures a stable supply of vegetables, without having to worry about fluctuations in price and quality that come with buying from conventional sources, Yuen says.
"The sweltering summer affects yields as vegetables don't grow well in the intense heat outdoors. But free of weather [factors] such as rain or blistering sun, our [hydroponic] vegetables can be harvested after 25 days, half the time needed with regular planting," says Yuen.
Farm Direct is a far bigger, more established venture. Set up in 2013, it operates a 100,000 sq ft site in Kam Tin and a 20,000 sq ft set-up in Fanling, where vegetables grow under plastic-and-netting shelters in raised containers fed with a flowing nutrient solution. The network is connected to a recycling system which filters the water before pumping it back into the containers.