現時領展服務的各區，均設有由領展直接營運及由承租商租用的街市，鼓勵良性競爭，藉以提升服務質素。街市整體承租商就如美食廣場的大型租戶，以其深厚行業知識及專業經驗，服務顧客。承租商亦是領展提升街市的夥伴，負責部分街市優化項目，其創意及營運質素亦十分優秀。過去領展街市管理團隊多次邀請承租商一起到訪歐美考察街市，借鑑當地經驗為本地街市進行優化。香港情況跟海外同業相似，翻新期間總會出現憂慮和負面臆測，部分源於市場上的誤解，因此，我們將繼續加強與社區溝通，回應關注事項。

憑藉以客為本的嶄新服務，街市優化項目屢獲世界大獎，翻新後客流更顯著上升，特別是年青一族，讓商戶貨如輪轉，足証提升工程令街市發展重拾升軌。謹此由衷感謝商戶及顧客對摩登街市的大力支持，讓香港街市行業邁向發展新領域。

行政總裁
王國龍

We have just celebrated the enchanting Mid-Autumn Festival, with lanterns, mooncakes and gatherings with loved ones. The lead-up to the festival is invariably a busy time for fresh markets, as tenants go about stocking up and filling orders for food produce required for a sumptuous family dinner.

Despite their long history of meeting people’s needs for fresh food, traditional fresh markets are losing customers to supermarkets in part because of the latter’s environments, hygiene conditions and longer opening hours. In Europe and North America, less than 10% of the population shops at fresh markets, while the figure in Hong Kong has been on a downward trend in recent years.

To give the industry a much-needed jolt of life, Link has been upgrading the services and facilities across its markets in response to rising customer expectations. To date, Link has enhanced 14 fresh markets, providing more hygienic environments that rival supermarkets while preserving their unique human touch of close interaction between stall tenants and shoppers. These new-look markets offer shopping trolleys for adults and children, enthusiastic customer ambassadors, and corridors wide enough for wheelchairs. Common fresh produce aside, speciality food ingredients sourced from various locations are on offer to cater to the wide shopper base the markets are appealing to. Diverse cooked food choices are also available for those returning home late.

To ensure healthy competition for better service, the districts where Link is present are each served by both Link-operated markets and those leased by single-letting market operators. The single-letting market operators, who are experienced tenants similar to a food court operator, possess strong industry knowledge and experience. As our partner in fresh market asset enhancement, they undertake enhancement works at selected markets. These renovated markets are as creative and customer focused as Link’s own enhancement projects. Link’s team and single-letting market operators visited markets in Europe and America to look for new perspectives in running fresh markets, which have proved instructive in our fresh market upgrades here in Hong Kong. Similar to our overseas counterparts, there is always a lot of anxiety and negative speculation, sometimes stimulated by politically driven misinformation and rhetoric, during the renovation period. We will continue to improve our communication with the communities in order to address their concerns.

In addition to garnering international awards, these modern fresh markets have recorded a post-renovation rise in patronage, especially of younger customers, highlighting our success in rejuvenating fresh markets through enhancement works. On behalf of Link, I would like to thank our tenants and shoppers for supporting these new-generation fresh markets and enabling Hong Kong’s fresh market sector to turn a new chapter.

George Hongchoy
Chief Executive Officer