Building a Trusted Food Ecosystem with Technology, Data and Standards

HONG KONG, Aug. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Organised by GS1 Hong Kong (GS1 HK), the 12^th Food Safety Forum was held today, bringing together 300 professionals from the food and beverage sector to exchange insights on "Feeding the Future: Advancing Safe and Sustainable Food Through Technology".

Organised by GS1 Hong Kong (GS1 HK), the 12th Food Safety Forum was held today, bringing together 300 professionals from the food and beverage sector to exchange insights on “Feeding the Future: Advancing Safe and Sustainable Food Through Technology”.

Ms Diane Wong Shuk-han, JP, Under Secretary for Environment and Ecology was the Guest of Honour. The Hon Shiu Ka-fai, BBS, JP, Member of 14^th CPPCC National Committee and Legislative Council; The Hon Jonathan Leung Chun, MH, Member of the Legislative Council; and Mr Edward Yu, Deputy Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Food), joined as award presenters. 21 companies were recognised under the Quality Food Scheme for their outstanding achievements in food safety, supply chain traceability and information transparency.

Ms Diane Wong, JP, the Guest of Honour, said in her opening remarks that The Environment and Ecology Bureau of the HKSAR Government has been actively promoting Mainland's premium agricultural products to leverage Hong Kong's role as an international trade and business platform to expand into overseas markets. GS1 Hong Kong has also contributed significantly to this effort. Particularly encouraging is the inclusion of QR codes with GS1 Standards for digital food labelling in national standards, encouraging food manufacturers to complement conventional labels with digital labels that provide more comprehensive product information. Barcode technology holds immense potential in driving product traceability and regulatory. She looks forward to seeing its wider adoption across the food industry, especially in supporting SMEs to enhance traceability, strengthen market competitiveness and meet compliance requirements in a cost-effective manner.

She added that, looking ahead, the Government will continue to perform its role as both a "super connector" and a "super value-adder", while working closely with GS1 Hong Kong and industry stakeholders to elevate the "Food from Hong Kong" on the global stage. Together, it will strengthen Hong Kong's position not only as an international gourmet paradise, but also as a trusted partner and food hub.

Embracing the Global Wave of Digital Labelling

Mr Keith Wu, Chairman of GS1 HK's Hong Kong Food and Beverage Industry Advisory Board, said in his welcome remarks, "As global supply chains face growing challenges, from extreme weather and regulatory changes to cross-border logistics, food safety is no longer just a quality management issue. It is central to business resilience, brand value and sustainable development. The future of food safety will be driven by technology, data and standards."

He noted that digital labelling is shifting from a market trend to an emerging market requirement. In Mainland China, the "General Principles of pre-packaged food labels (預包裝食品標籤通則)" and "Measures for Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling (食品標識監督管理辦法)" will take effect in March 2027. Digital labelling was introduced for the first time, encouraging companies to showcase detailed product information via QR codes.

Adopting QR codes powered by GS1 is an important step for businesses to keep in pace with market developments. Unlike ordinary QR codes, they can carry richer product data, including batch numbers, expiry dates, production dates, origin, certifications and recycling information, while linking to extended product information, such as certifications, tracking and traceability details.

Many Hong Kong companies have already adopted QR codes powered by GS1 on their product packaging, e.g. GS1 HK's "1QR" platform, which seamlessly connects online and offline (O+O) experiences and provides product tracking and traceability information. By making brand stories visible, verifiable and shareable, it helps build consumer trust and strengthen brand value.

Industry Leaders Shared Best Practices in Innovation and Sustainability

The Forum featured speakers from the retail, catering, food production and aquaculture sectors, including AS Watson Industries, DKSH Hong Kong Limited, Hong Kong Aquaculture Innovation Limited, Murray Rice Company Ltd, Tai Po Chun Hing Ltd, Tam Jai International Co. Limited and Tong Shun Hing Poultry (HK) Co. Ltd. They shared practical insights on leveraging innovation to strengthen food safety "from source to table" while meeting consumer expectations for transparency and sustainability.

Ms Anna Lin, Chief Executive of GS1 HK, said, "As food supply chains become increasingly complex, trusted data is key for businesses to meet regulatory requirements, boost operational efficiency and strengthen competitiveness. GS1 Hong Kong will continue helping companies harness global standards and digital platforms to improve data accuracy, interoperability and trust, driving supply chain visibility, consumer confidence and global growth opportunities."

Newly Enhanced Quality Food Scheme

To support the food industry's digitalisation and sustainability goals, the Quality Food Scheme has been enhanced this year with three new recognition categories: Diversity, Traceability and Transparency.

The assessment criteria are mainly in accordance with international standards, including ISO 22000, HACCP and GS1 Global Traceability Standard (GTS). Participating companies receive a comprehensive assessment report to help enhance their food traceability and food safety management systems.

Please refer to the appendix for the list of recognised companies. For details, please visit: www.gs1hk.org/zh-hk/quality-food-scheme.

Photo download: GS1 HK Food Safety Forum_Photos

Appendix

Recognised Companies of "Quality Food Scheme" 2026 (in alphabetical order):

Quality Food Scheme - Diversity
Diamond Enterprise

• AS Watson Group (HK) Limited - Watsons Water
• Cafe de Coral Holdings Limited
• DCH logistics (Hong Kong) Limited
• DKSH Hong Kong Ltd.
• FrieslandCampina (Hong Kong) Limited
• Genesis Biology Limited
• International Gourmet Foods Limited
• Integrated Market Services Asia Ltd
• KLN Logistics (HK) Limited
• Maxim's Caterers Ltd
• Sims Trading Co. Ltd.
• Swire Coca-Cola HK Limited
• Tai Hing Worldwide Development Ltd.
• The Garden Company Ltd.
• Tong Shun Hing Poultry (HK) Co. Ltd.
• Tsit Wing Coffee Co., Ltd.
• Vitasoy International Holdings Ltd.

Quality Food Scheme – Traceability
Diamond Enterprise

• Lee Kum Kee 

Gold Enterprise

• Aquaculture Technologies Asia Ltd.

Quality Food Scheme – Transparency
Diamond Enterprise

• AS Watson Group (HK) Limited - Watsons Water
• Meiriki Japan Co. Ltd.

About GS1 Hong Kong

GS1 Hong Kong is the local chapter of GS1^®, a global, not-for-profit data standards organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and represented in over 120 countries. We help businesses identify, capture, and share trusted data across both physical and digital supply chains. Through global standards like GTIN (barcodes), GS1 Hong Kong empowers companies of their digital transformation, improve efficiency, enhance supply chain visibility, and strengthen collaboration.

Building on these standards, we've developed platforms such as ezTRADE for B2B data exchange, ezTRACK for real-time traceability, and 1QR, a GS1 Digital Link-powered platform that delivers rich product information—certifications, sustainability data, and more—via 2D barcodes.

Our trusted data infrastructure has now extended to support trade financing and Scope 3 emissions reporting, helping businesses meet ESG requirements.

In today's AI-driven economy, data quality is essential. GS1 Hong Kong provides a foundation for data that is accurate, visible, linkable, searchable, shareable, and traceable.

GS1 Hong Kong currently supports close to 8,000 corporate members from 20 sectors including retail & consumer packaged goods, food & beverage and food services, healthcare, apparel & footwear, logistics & ICT.

Website: www.gs1hk.org

Source: GS1 Hong Kong