In 1975, the third generation of the Yiu family of grocers from
Hong Kong opened for business in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. Their
business, Hong Oriental, was amongst the first to bring the
trade of Asian groceries to Australia in the 20th century.
Hong Oriental pioneered imports of tropical fruit and vegetable as well
as frozen seafood, newspapers and magazines from all over the pacific
and Asia by air.
In
addition to retail, the company was also an importer and wholesaler
of major Asian brands.
The merger of Hong
Oriental and China Merchants
The merger of China Merchants' subsidiary company with Hong
Oriental in March 1990 represented one of the companies major
initiatives in the food trade. This resulted in the formation of
Oriental Merchant Pty. Ltd. concentrating on the wholesaling, distributing and marketing
of authentic Asian groceries.
The memorial to the throne by Viceroy Li Hong-Zhang for setting
up China Merchants in
1872