When people hear the tune from "The Blue Danube" in the
streets, they may search for a van. There, they just need to pay $6 to get a cone of
ice-cream.
However, in recent years, such kinds of little expenses seem to have transformed into a luxury.
Many high-class ice-cream shops have emerged. BL Italian is one of them.
Compared to local ice-cream, the products of BL Italian are quite
expensive. For some specialities like ice-cream Fritter, Crepe Suzette and Baked Alaska,
bills are from $50 to $70.
However, Mr. Andy Wong, the general manager of BL Italian argued that their products are worth their prices.
nbsp; "We sell Gelato, the top ranking Italian ice-cream which is
famous for its 100% ingredients without air.
"As Gelato is imported from Italy, we have to set a high price so as to cover the transportation costs.
"Besides, our target customers are the middle class. They
are more willing to spend and eating ice-cream is sort of an extravagant enjoyment to
them," said he.
"I remember that one customer living far away drove here only for a box of our ice-cream," he added.
High quality is also a selling point of their products.
Said Mr. Wong: "The living standard of Hong Kong people has risen a lot during these years. Thus, the demand for better quality food became larger.
"Therefore, we produce high quality products. We believe
that customers will come back again only if we can guarantee our products' quality."
"As the choices of ice-cream are quite restricted in Hong Kong, we try to introduce more new tastes and hope to make ice-cream eating a much more enjoyable experience," said he.
According to Mr. Wong, ice-cream per se is not enough, good
services and a comfortable environment are also important elements.
Besides ice-cream, Chinese sweet soup, or "tong-shui" has also changed into a kind of high-class food.
"Tong-shui" of Sweet Dynasty is an example.
In Sweet Dynasty, prices of "tong-shui" range from $15 to $200.
Miss Daisy Hung, shop owner of Sweet Dynasty, is herself a "tong-shui" lover.
Said she: "Like me, many Hong Kong people are
"tong-shui" lovers. However, they may not be con cerned about its quality and
packaging.
"I have done research and found that there is a market for high quality "tong-shui" in Hong Kong. "It is true that our "tong-shui" is a bit more expensive than that of the other "tong-shui" shops. But, it depends on how one perceives.
"Price may be important for some people while others may want
to pay more for better quality.
"My target customers are yuppies who are picky in what they eat and know how to enjoy their lives," said Miss Hung.
Miss Hung also wants to make eating "tong-shui" an enjoyment.
"The high-class image and the clean, spacious, comfortable
environment of Sweet Dynasty certainly make eating "tong-shui" enjoyable.
"Our customers usually spend more than an hour in our shop. It seems that they like our environment.
"However, gorgeous decoration is not enough. Good service is also important.
"We treat our customers well no matter how much they
order," said Miss Hung.
Like Mr. Andy Wong, Miss Hung also attaches great importance to product quality.
"Hong Kong people nowadays expect more. They pay a certain amount of money and want to get the same value back.
"In order to prevent them from visiting other "tong-shui" shops, we must produce high quality products," said she.
Miss Ada Lee, a 24-year-old clerk who works in Tai Wai, has
visited many extravagant dessert shops including Sweet Dynasty.
"Being a nine-to-fiver, I would like to enjoy my holidays. For me, it is a kind of leisure to find a comfortable place and enjoy meals together with my friends.
"People of my age are more willing to consume. Money is not the only consideration.
"What we consider most is to develop our own tastes and styles in our daily lives.
"So, spending a bit more is okay for me," said she.
