Hongkonger Ho King-yuen, who brought the first ice cream van to the city, has died aged 98, leaving a sweet legacy for generations of residents and tourists.
Ho and two friends introduced the first Mister Softee ice cream truck to Hong Kong in 1970 and the iconic vehicles have since become a beloved staple and popular tourist attraction in the city.
“With his experience at [ice cream company] Dairy Farm, he imported the first soft ice cream van to Hong Kong from overseas with his friends and founded Mister Softee [here], which brought many precious sweet memories to many generations of Hongkongers and has become a renowned brand in the city,” an obituary published in a local newspaper on Tuesday said.
“He retired at an old age and transferred the business to another company. He then moved to Perth in Western Australia with his family.”
Mister Softee was founded by William Conway and James Conway in 1956 in Philadelphia. It is one of the largest franchisers of soft ice cream in the United States.
According to local media, Ho and two other people bought the franchise rights after seeing a park filled with ice cream trucks during a visit to the United Kingdom.