Hong Kong Baby Products Fair was held from January 9-12, the first since Covid stopped the trade show. HKTDC is a ‘multishow’, spanning toys, stationery and nursery goods. We caught up with one of the attendees, Jonathan Feingold of Italian pram brand, Inglesina, who shared some of his unique insights with us:

After the very poor attendance of 2020, and despite being a smaller show, 3 halls where there was once 7+, it was great to see people from all over the world – the Middle East, Israel, South America, the UK, even Russia – in fact, day two was extremely busy with people queueing to get in. No Americans & Canadians that I could see, apparently put off by the $7k air costs on a now less frequently used flight route.

Checking in as an attendee at the iconic location of the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre (which even boasts its own metro station) was made seamless thanks to an app, while the re-organised layout allowed more airflow between the halls and was easier to control crowds.

Exhibiting at this show were not retailers or even the brands we know about. Instead, it’s the actual factories from China and, in the past Korea, Thailand etc, who manufacture for known brands. Looking for the right products and designs were mainly small/medium brands looking to find baby goods similar to those offered by the leading brands. Equally, the stands are not elaborate stands, like the ones we see at western trade shows – they are mainly unbranded, simply labelled under the factory name, in pre-made shell scheme sections.

So what did I see? 3 main things:

1. Multiple (50+) variations of 360 car seats with legs to i-size. Each from different factories and each with minuscule differences. There seemed little or no interest or in non- turning moveable seats.
2. Self-folding strollers: an opportunity to show off gadgetry, especially since we can fly again and families want something easy to store in an overhead locker. Again, every producer had one and all looked so similar, it was hard to tell them apart.
3. Travel systems: Lots of Western European-style prams featuring a large carrycot and car seat adapters.

Finally, did we have to wear masks? Yes, absolutely everywhere unless inside your hotel room or eating food – and yes, there were ‘mask marshalls’ checking that you adhered to the rules!

https://www.hktdc.com/event/hkbabyfair/en