HK entrepreneur dreams to aid more dysphagia patients

Chau Yik-chun won the championship of a global startup competition with his Senior Deli products. 

Helping more people suffering from dysphagia, a condition in which swallowing is difficult or painful, is the pursuit for the young Hong Kong entrepreneur Chau Yik-chun.

“When I was still a student, I often went to a friend’s home, where I saw his three relatives with dysphagia. After searching online, I realized the seriousness of the disease and happened to find that Japan has food products targeted for such patients,” Chau said, adding that the experience inspired him to produce similar products to help those sufferers.

In 2011, Chau graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and started his business in the cross-border e-commerce industry.

In 2014, he shifted to sell food products.

In 2017, after three years of traveling in Taipei, Singapore and Dubai, Chau came back to Hong Kong and learned about Qianhai at a promotional event.

“The travelling days made me homesick and I want to be closer to my home. Qianhai is a good choice for me and I can enjoy many supportive policies like financial subsidies and low-rent housing,” Chau said.

In June 2019, Chau relocated his company to the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub and started to develop easy-to-swallow food products.

According to Chau, his team has successfully developed a series of products named Senior Deli, which has four major categories: a shaping powder that can reshape broken food; a softening powder that can directly soften meat or vegetables; a thickener that can enhance the viscosity of liquid such as water and beverage to reduce the risk of choking and aspiration; and instant soft meals that can be easily eaten after heating.

Currently, Chau’s food products have been used in the Pine Care Group and the Hong Kong Baptist Hospital, as well as more than 50 other professional nursing institutions for the aged in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Huizhou.

In 2019, Chau’s product line won the third prize at the Fifth Qianhai Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Last year, he won the third prize at the 2020 Global Bio-Economy Innovation and Entrepreneurship competition and received cash award of 3 million yuan (US$464,432).

“In Qianhai, my dream is being realized step by step,” Chau said.