The first 10 participants arriving at the booth were separated into five groups to take part in a game for prizes. The teams had to throw the most abalone models into a basketball net within two minutes to win.

Two elderly women, surnamed Wong and Mok, won first place by throwing 41 in a net. They won 300 cans of abalone, worth about HK$15,300 (US$2,000).

Wong, 68, said she was convinced to go to the expo by her friend Mok, 70, who had gone every year before the pandemic struck. They lined up outside the convention centre on Monday despite the heavy rain and tropical cyclone Mulan that swept across the city.

“We could barely sleep at night,” Wong recalled. “It was quite windy outside due to the tropical storm, [but] I was glad that I didn’t need to take out a fan. There were two people waiting ahead of us,” she added. “We don’t even know when they arrived to line up for the opening.”

The exhibitor hoped the game would attract more customers to the booth, said Plato Chan, sales operation manager at On Kee Dry Seafood company.

Participating in the food expo for the first time since 2019, Chan said the number of visitors was beyond what he had expectated. He added that he hoped the event could bring the company’s sales volume back to the level before the pandemic hit.

While some people were eyeing big prizes, another 100 people chose to rush to a booth that sold “Musang King” durian snowy mooncakes, which normally cost HK$78 per piece, for HK$1.

There were, however, only 30 HK$1 mooncakes for sale each day for three consecutive days, according to a staff member at the booth.

Among the unfortunate patrons was Yut Lee-ha, a 40-year-old woman, who failed to get one.

Yut said she arrived at 6am and was aiming for different HK$1 sales, but ended up only getting a few products because she “lost track” after seeing so many people in the hall.

Peter Chan, a 22-year-old university student, said he had lined up outside the convention centre at 5am and there were about 10 people ahead of him by that time.

He was able to buy three products for HK$1.

“I did not plan to buy anything specific. I just want to have some fun,” he said, adding that the government’s latest round of consumption vouchers had not induced him to buy more at the exhibition. “I’d rather spend the money on buying other necessities.”

Officiating the opening ceremony on Thursday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the government believed in the critical value that trade played in the city’s economy and in attracting foreign investment.

“That is why I think everyone is so glad to see the return of large-scale exhibitions after the peak of Covid-19 in the first quarter this year,” he said.

“We are exploring long-term strategies to attract more event organisers, more convention and exhibition events to Hong Kong down the road.”

Chan also said he hoped visitors could bring their consumption vouchers to the food expo, “enjoying every minute, every dollar spent as they do”, as over 90 per cent of the exhibitors accepted the vouchers.

Hong Kong Food Expo: new beers, old signatures but still no tasting allowed

Most exhibitors accept at least one of the six consumption voucher payment systems, namely Bank of China’s BoC Pay, HSBC’s PayMe, Alipay HK, Octopus, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK. AlipayHK is operated by Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post.

About 6.3 million people, including new residents and arrivals from mainland China, are eligible for the second batch of the government’s voucher scheme, the first HK$2,000 of which became available last Sunday.

Alfred Chan, 60, accompanied by his spouse and two other friends, said he came to the expo because of the consumption vouchers.

“I think I will buy more using my consumption voucher because the government gave us the money,” he said.

Despite tasting being banned for a second year, the number of exhibitors this year surpassed last year’s with nearly 1,000 setting up booths.

Leung Wing-sze, of the Happy Mama Enjoy Food booth, well-known for selling its preservative-free frozen chicken pot that normally costs HK$118 at HK$1 every year, said she was very confident that her turnover would double compared with last year.

“Banning food tasting is not a problem,” she said. “We’ve been through this last year but didn’t see a big decline in our business.”

The event will be open to the public from 10am to 10pm until next Monday. Tickets cost HK$10 and are available at the door or online.