Amid the rapid growth of social entrepreneurship in Hong Kong, government subsidies and support programs are empowering small and medium-sized enterprises to scale their impact. A case in point is a local sustainable beverage startup Breer, which launched its latest drink, TheMisfits Kombucha, on Sunday.
Brewed from misshapen fruits, it serves as an innovative experiment under its upcycling production model, aimed at tackling the city’s food waste problem.
Established in 2020 as one of the first food upcycling companies in Hong Kong, Breer is known for its craft beer made from surplus bread. Up to now, the startup has saved over 100 tons of bread from being wasted, which equals approximately half a million slices.
The sustainability mission and innovative business model of Breer have gained support from a range of organizations, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where the founders of Breer studied, and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP), where the startup is incubated.
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“We raised close to HK$6.5 million ($829,000) just from grants and competitions,” said Naman Tekriwal, one of the co-founders of Breer.
“Hong Kong has been very supportive,” he added. “For anyone who wants to start (their business) in Hong Kong, they should know that Hong Kong has a lot of capital available for early entrepreneurs.”
In 2021, for example, the team brought the idea to Hong Kong’s first City I&T Grand Challenge, a business pitch competition organized by the Innovation and Technology Commission together with the HKSTP, where they were crowned Champion (Environmental Sustainability) and received a HK$200,000 award.
Expected to commence this year, the HK$10 billion Innovation and Technology Industry Oriented Fund was introduced by financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in the 2026-27 Budget to invest in strategically important fields, such as life and health technology, artificial intelligence and robotics, and future industries.
Besides financial support, Breer’s success is also rooted in Hong Kong’s vibrant and inclusive startup ecosystem. The venture has been profitable since its first year, achieving a profit margin of around 60 percent.
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This financial viability is built on strong partnerships, which serve as the cornerstone of its business performance. As one of its biggest partners, Maxim’s Group is not only the startup’s raw material supplier but also its biggest distribution channel.
Building on this relationship, Breer co-created B.O.B., which stands for “bottle of bread” – a line brewed exclusively from Maxim’s surplus bread and served across its restaurant network.
“The products we collaborated on with Maxim’s are available at 150 to 200 restaurants across Hong Kong,” said Tekriwal. “It was obviously a long process of onboarding with Maxim’s, but now Maxim’s is a very successful partnership with Breer.”
Breer continues to diversify its brewing ingredients beyond surplus bread, experimenting with leftover fruits and peels to create products like sodas and kombucha. “We will keep the sustainability mission of the company alive,” said Tekriwal.
By 2025, the number of startups in Hong Kong had surged to a record high of 5,221, an 11 percent increase from the previous year, employing nearly 20,000 people, according to investment promotion agency InvestHK.
Contact the writer at rayjia@chinadailyhk.com