Launched on 10 March 2000 as HongKongFoodie.Com, the upmarket food and beverage portal today announces that it is renamed as “food4hongkong,” with its Chinese name remaining the same. Since the launch of its English version, the portal has been popular among internet users, recording daily page views of approximately 10,000. The decision of renaming the portal was made upon the receipt of a Writ of Summons from the solicitors of Impressions Limited, against our use of the word “Foodie,” which is trademarked. Prospex CyberCapital Limited, the portal’s operator, believes that the new name is more user-friendly and is in line with the popularity of using numbers in domain names.
Food4hongkong also announces the launch of its Chinese version, with a string of new development plans for the coming year. The portal has signed letters of intent and agreements with a WAP operator and various horizontal and vertical portals on distributing food4hongkong’s content. Apart from focused quality content, currently consisting of information on over 2,000 restaurants, the portal will also feature a restaurant ‘log-in’ zone enabling member restaurants to obtain information such as page views of their restaurant pages. A membership dining club will also be established in the 4th quarter of 2000, further demonstrating the portal’s close connection with restaurant operators. The portal will also work with takeaway shops and restaurants in developing online food ordering services in the 4th quarter of 2000. Carl K Y Gouw, Prospex’s Chairman and Managing Director, commented that “food4hongkong will move from a content site into a community and eventually commerce site, targeting both restaurant customers and operators.”
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Prospex CyberCapital Limited also plans to develop food4hongkong into a portal catered to the food and beverage industry, with information services to all members of the foodservice supply chain, from large chains to independent foodservice operators, to distributors, to manufacturers. By the 4th quarter of 2000, the completion of phase one, the B2B site will feature news, education and extensive resources for restaurant operators. The site will at first establish itself as a shopping network, linking suppliers with the food and beverage industry as well as providing new purchasing options to buyers. By the 2nd quarter of 2001, the completion of phase two, the site will also provide e-commerce applications for the industry, streamlining the often confusing and complicated restaurant purchasing procedures and aggregating the fragmented industry.
Prospex CyberCapital Limited, established in March 2000 by Carl K Y Gouw, has also planned to incubate various potential portals by the end of 2000. Carl Gouw reinforces his mission that “the company will inject capital and expertise into various vertical portals that have synergies with Prospex’ s food4hongkong.” Prospex CyberCapital has already generated revenues from several major web production and maintenance projects. The company is presently seeking potential venture capital partners. For further press information, please contact Henry Lai at +852-2522-2038.
