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Zhu Wenqian

Mainland Chinese supermarkets, including US warehouse retailer Sam’s Club, have dropped the Hong Kong-bound vegetable label under new customs rules.
The change has triggered widespread concern among consumers, as the label had long served as a selling point for high quality amid frequent mainland food-safety incidents.
The removal stems from new rules by the General Administration of Customs. From September 1, registration will no longer be required for growing farms, and only food-processing firms need to register.
Before, I just looked for the Hong Kong-bound label. Now I must check the details myself
Consumer
This means vegetables grown on the same farms that supply Hong Kong can no longer carry the Hong Kong-bound label when sold in mainland supermarkets.
“Before, I just looked for the Hong Kong-bound label,” said a female consumer in a post this week on Chinese social media platform RedNote. “Now I must check the details myself, and that’s the change.”
Hong Kong-bound labelled lettuce was once a bestseller at Walmart-owned Sam’s Club on the mainland, drawing middle-class shoppers who trusted its quality.
Given its high popularity, the retailer added a tag on the product to explain the new customs rule. The 600-gram pack, still priced at 12.90 yuan (US$1.90), uses the same packaging and supplier from China’s northwestern Ningxia Hui autonomous region, distinguished only by the new “Dali lettuce” label.
The retailer found a way to retain a hint of Hong Kong appeal. Dali lettuce is what Hong Kong people know as Chinese lettuce, a broad-leaf Italian variety, and the Cantonese pronunciation for “Italian” sounds similar to “Dali”.
This has sparked heated discussion online. Many shoppers said the new Dali lettuce did not measure up, and some complained it lacked the crunch and moisture of the old version.
Others said merchants could still claim unchanged quality, and shoppers would struggle to pursue legal claims if the vegetable failed to meet old supply standards, according to RedNote posts.
Constrained by limited land and industrial layout, Hong Kong imports over 90 per cent of its food.
The mainland was its top supplier of fresh produce, providing 94 per cent of fresh pork, 92 per cent of vegetables and 66 per cent of eggs consumed locally, according to the Environment and Ecology Bureau in Hong Kong.
To meet Hong Kong’s food-safety requirements, mainland food bound for the city saw steady quality improvements.
Supply farms for Hong Kong became a priority for regional agriculture and a way to boost added value. Such sites are usually located in pristine and low-pollution areas.


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Change sparks concern among consumers, with the Hong Kong label having long served as a selling point for high quality


Change sparks concern among consumers, with the Hong Kong label having long served as a selling point for high quality.


Mainland Chinese shoppers lose trusted Hong Kong veggie tag as customs revamp hits shelves

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Change sparks concern among consumers, with the Hong Kong label having long served as a selling point for high quality

Change sparks concern among consumers, with the Hong Kong label having long served as a selling point for high quality