Our regular feature, brought to you in association with Strange Nature Gin from New Zealand, celebrates memorable scenes, moments, launches and campaigns related to the global aviation and travel retail sphere.
HONG KONG, CHINA. Just about every time I visit Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) I see something new in the retail and/or food & beverage offer, writes Martin Moodie, and this week was no exception.
Today’s image selection shows the recently opened Godiva Café in the landside departures zone. It’s now six years since the premium Belgian chocolate brand opened its first Café – sprouting, as it were, in Brussels, the brand’s birthplace – and since then the concept has gained rapid transaction around the globe.
In 2019, the company revealed plans to open 2,000 further Cafés worldwide, building on a then 50-strong presence. The COVID-19 pandemic changed all that, as it did for HKIA, so it’s good to see both enterprises firmly back on track and collaborating in an important enhancement of an already eclectic and high-quality F&B offer.
The HKIA Godiva Café offers a mix of dining and retail choices, the former including a range of four types of Croiffle – a Godiva-patented fusion of croissant and waffle. Coffee, tea, chocolate drinks and shakes are available, as are, of course, chocolates. Loose and packaged. And delicious.
The challenge for Godiva, as for any chocolate (or fashion, luxury or drinks) brand opening a café is not to dilute the hard-won allure of the original product with an inferior extended offer.
In that regard, I thought the presentation of the non-chocolate items (pictured left in the photo immediately below) needed improvement to complement the splendid Godiva treats alongside. But it’s early days and this latest example of the increasing fusion between F&B and retail seems likely to be a winner. 
Martin Moodie at Hong Kong International Airport