Hong Kong – Banu, mainland China’s top-ranked premium hotpot brand, is set to open its first Hong Kong store at Hysan Place in Causeway Bay in mid-November, marking the company’s first expansion beyond the mainland and the official start of its global growth strategy.
The Causeway Bay location places Banu in one of Hong Kong’s busiest commercial and dining districts, an area popular with both local residents and tourists. The brand, founded in 2001, has built its reputation in China on a product-first approach, using ingredients such as hand-shredded New Zealand beef tripe and wild mushroom soup sourced from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau rather than competing primarily on price or service.
Hong Kong’s hotpot market has long been split between budget chains and luxury seafood restaurants, leaving little room for boutique, ingredient-focused hotpot. Thus, Banu is positioning its entry to fill that gap, drawing on the instant traction it has typically achieved in new mainland cities, where its 13 debut stores in 2025 recorded an average table turnover of 4.3 times daily in their first month.
Zhu Danpeng, vice chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Food Safety Promotion Alliance, said Banu’s standardised, end-to-end supply chain had allowed it to raise quality while lowering costs, creating barriers that smaller premium hotpot competitors would struggle to match.
The Hong Kong debut also comes as Banu pursues a Hong Kong listing, with the market seen as a proving ground for the brand’s cross-border operations ahead of wider international expansion.
Wong Sze Man, head of Tourism and Hospitality at Invest Hong Kong, said the city’s diverse consumer base and high volume of international visitors made it a strong test market for new dining concepts. “Hong Kong people love novelty and are eager to try new restaurants and dishes,”
She added that adding brands offering strong value and outstanding dining experiences held greater growth potential.
Banu already has a following among Hong Kong diners through its Shenzhen outlets, which regularly appear on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Dianping as recommended stops for cross-border visitors.
