Small catering business faces uphill battle at City University

12th July 2024 – (Hong Kong) A small business owner and catering operator at City University has laid bare the adversities encountered while operating the AC3 cafe, the only restaurant under his franchise. The owner’s narrative underscores a stark reality often masked by the collegiate atmosphere — a plight of inequity and overlooked challenges.

Since its commencement on 1st August, 2018, the cafe has been more than just a food outlet; it has been a vital part of the university community. However, after nearly six years of service, the operator received news that a new vendor, Cathay Pacific’s Deli Fresh, would be taking over the premises. This change comes after a tumultuous tenure marked by protests, a global pandemic, and extensive construction activities around the campus, which collectively disrupted normal business operations for the majority of the contract duration.

The owner describes an initial 72-month contract blighted by only seven months of uninterrupted operation. The cafe’s challenges began with 21 months of university protests, necessitating heightened security measures that obscured the restaurant’s visibility and impeded customer access. Following this, the COVID-19 pandemic further derailed their operations for 36 months as remote learning and campus restrictions drastically reduced foot traffic and revenue.

Compounding these difficulties was a four-year-long construction project of the new Health Sciences Tower, which enveloped the nearby Lau Ming Wai Academic Building in scaffolding, severely affecting the cafe’s visibility and accessibility. Throughout these ordeals, the university provided little communication about when these disruptive conditions would end, fostering a sense of neglect and mistrust.

The cafe faced compounded difficulties due to a four-year construction project for the new Health Sciences Tower, which enveloped the nearby Lau Ming Wai Academic Building in scaffolding, severely impacting its visibility and accessibility.

The situation escalated when the university allegedly retained some of the cafe’s newly purchased equipment, intended for relocation, without clear reasons or the possibility of retrieval due to bureaucratic red tape. This not only signifies a financial loss for the small business but also highlights a lack of support and consideration from the institution.

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