Enjoyed as a stand-alone snack, in cereal blends, as baking ingredient or as flavour enhancer to dishes, California raisins are moving up the consumption ladder in Asia.

The desert town of Coachella, located 42km from Palm Springs International Airport in California, has a history of attracting music to its rugged mountains and valleys, from the indigenous Cahuilla people who, for 3,000 years, have taught their language and culture through traditional bird songs to 20th-century musical legends such as Frank Sinatra and Liberace, who lived in the area.

Many of the big names of American business have found a home in Hong Kong, but that should not obscure the significant contribution that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), founded and run by US entrepreneurs, also make to the health of the local economy.