Diversification efforts are intensifying at Hung Hing Printing Group. “We are looking at both geographical and business diversification for continuous growth,” says executive chairman Matthew Yum. “We are adding manufacturing locations—in Hanoi, Vietnam, for instance—and expanding into different, but related, businesses while we strive to excel in our core competencies in printing and paper products.”
The completion of the second phase of the Hanoi-based HH Dream Printing plant early this year was followed by the purchase of an adjacent 50,000-square-meter lot for future expansion. “HH Dream operations are accelerating, chiefly to meet the high demand for packaging products from Vietnam’s manufacturing sector for both domestic and export markets,” says COO Richard Lim, who is keeping an eye on the progress of a new $45-million plant, slated for smart-printed packaging products, in Wuxi, a city near Shanghai.
Installations of new presses have Lim and his team running between different facilities. “We have added two KBA presses, one each in Shenzhen and Hanoi, as well as a nine-color Komori press with two coating units, principally to support the domestic luxury and cosmetics print market,” says Lim, who has added digital presses Komori Impremia IS29 and Fujifilm Jet Press 750S to Hung Hing’s Heshan and Wuxi plants, respectively. “These new machineries offer higher efficiencies, improved quality, and greener solutions—and these are exactly what we are aiming to achieve alongside our diversification strategy.”
Meanwhile, the company’s business diversification has resulted in the purchase of Active Minds, which with 10 outlets is Hong Kong’s biggest children’s book retailer. “With this move, our publishing clients now have direct access to the local market to sell their products,” says commercial director Christopher Yum. “We are effectively extending the chain of value-added services that we provide through our printing and packaging activities.” The biggest Active Minds outlet is located at K11 Musea, a must-see cultural-retail destination in Hong Kong.
The Active Minds outlets jibe perfectly with Yum Me Play, the company’s experiential learning platform specializing in STEAM topics for young children. Its New Town Plaza flagship store in Shatin, Hong Kong, is yet another marketplace where publishing clients can sell direct. “Our portfolio company STEM Plus, on the other hand, is about inspiring children in all things related to science and technology,” says Yum, whose team organizes more than 200 school bookfairs as well as interschool AI-based competitions, the third of which will be held in December.
“These events, platforms, and retail outlets connect Hung Hing—and by default, the publishers that we serve and those of their products that we manufacture—with the young participants, educators, and parents,” Yum says. “This is about maximizing market exposure and brand recognition for us and for our clients.”
