After 66 years, Kau Kee’s first shop offers fish balls ‘every Hongkonger has eaten’

Anita Lee Yan-kwan, a second-generation owner of Kau Kee Food Factory, opened the company's first retail store in Mong Kok last December after 66 years of supplying fish balls to eateries and street food stalls across Hong Kong. The 30-year-old politics graduate had taken over the family business during the Covid-19 pandemic when street food sales plummeted due to mask mandates and social distancing rules.

Lee admitted that transitioning from factory manufacturing to retail management was daunting, as it required new skills in people management, inventory control, marketing, and promotion. However, she capitalized on the brand's strengths by cutting out third-party markups and offering its products at a lower price of HK$10 for 10 pieces – about half the current market average.

Unlike supermarket fish balls intended for home consumption, Kau Kee's recipe prioritizes more fish meat for superior chewiness, even when soaked in curry sauce for extended periods. A key component in their "king of fish balls" is tuna, which provides a rich, fragrant oiliness.

To attract a new generation of customers, including tourists, Lee incorporated "Instagrammable" elements like a 3D-printed oversized fish ball model. Currently, about 30% of her customer base consists of tourists. Lee hopes the first store will be the beginning of many more storefronts to preserve Hong Kong's culinary heritage amidst the rise of foreign snack chains.