The remaining food trucks will have a cook off on July 26. Fifty-one applicants to the city’s food truck scheme were shortlisted for the next round of assessment later this month.
They were chosen out of a total of 192 applications by a panel for the government pilot tourism project as it completed its first-stage assessment.
Of the 51 shortlisted applications, 25 were from start-ups or small businesses.
In terms of signature dishes, 18 applicants feature Chinese cuisine, 17 intend to cook Western food and 16 have pitched international dishes.
They will showcase these signature dishes at a cook off on July 26.
The top 16 contestants will be announced the following day, and a waiting list of eight applicants will be drawn up.
The winners will still have to apply for the relevant licences from various departments before operating at the designated sites.
The two-year scheme, announced in Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah’s budget last year, will allow 16 food trucks to operate in eight tourist districts and serve as a way to boost the city’s tourism industry, which has relied too heavily in recent years on shoppers from the mainland.
The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau expects the first food truck to start operations by year’s end or early next year.