Food and beverage to Taiwan
(Last updated: 17 Sep 2013)
Trends and opportunities
The market
Taiwan has one of the highest per capita rates of expenditure on food in the region, with relatively high disposable incomes and a strong preference for convenient, healthy, quality and premium food and beverage products. Although the local food manufacturing industry is well established, Taiwan is still heavily reliant on imports.
Australia is currently the third largest supply source of food and beverages in Taiwan. Australian produce holds appeal to Taiwanese buyers looking to take advantage of Australia's veritable variety of counter-seasonal supply, and reputation for safe, quality food. Major export items include meat, seafood, grain and dairy products.
(Sources: Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, R.O.C., 2012 | Directorate General of Customs, Executive Yuan, R.O.C., 2012)
Market share for agricultural products imported by Taiwan 2012, by country of origin
(Source: Directorate General of Customs, Executive Yuan, R.O.C., 2012)
Opportunities
Australian food suppliers entering the Taiwanese market will benefit from the strong reputation currently associated with Australian food and beverage exporters:
- Australian produce is free from disease, particularly BSE and foot-and-mouth disease
- Australia offers counter-seasonal supply – a competitive advantage for exporters
- An increasing number of high-end supermarkets are adding to the demand for high quality imported food and beverage products
Opportunities for Australian suppliers of food and beverages to Taiwan include:
- Meat – frozen beef (flank, shin, shank and offal), chilled beef (shortloin, rib eye and tenderloin, Australian wagyu and organic beef), frozen goat meat, chilled lamb and frozen lamb rack (see our beef to Taiwan profile for more information)
- Seafood (see our seafood to Taiwan profile for more information)
- Grains – wheat, barley and oats (rolled and organic oats)
- Dairy produce – milk powder, UHT cream, cheese, butter and value added dairy ingredients (see our dairy to Taiwan profile for more information)
- Fruit – nectarines (white flesh), tangerines, cherries, and table grapes
- Vegetables – carrots, potatoes and onion
- Organic food
- High quality packaged food
- Demand for ingredients for food processing, bakery use and food service
- Wine – ultra premium wines with international recognition (see our wine to Taiwan profile for more information)
Competitive environment
Owing to the lack of natural resources and limited space, Taiwan is heavily reliant on importing a wide range of food and beverage products from different countries.
The USA is the leading supplier of agricultural products, while Japan plays a dominant role in the packaged food sector. Over the past five years, Brazil has rapidly expanded its share of the market, supplanting Australia as the second largest exporter in 2010. In 2012, Brazil had 15 per cent of the market share, more than double that of Australia.
With a trade agreement between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan (ANZTEC) signed in July 2013, a majority of the food and beverage products from New Zealand will enjoy zero tariffs upon ANZTEC’s entering into force in 2014. Accordingly, Australian exporters are expected to face more serious competition from New Zealand exporters in the future.
Taiwanese food manufacturers, such as Uni-President, Wei-Chuan and I-Mei, produce good quality and price competitive food and beverage products. However, local food manufacturers also afford the Australian food and beverage sector with export opportunities as they look to source high quality, safe and fresh produce in order to appease the demands of an increasingly savvy market.
(Source: Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, R.O.C., 2012)
Tariffs, regulations and customs
Customs regulations and procedures are administered by the Directorate General of Customs within the Ministry of Finance, Republic of China. Tariff rates vary depending on the product imported.
Industry standards
Taiwanese law requires all products (except those destined for use by the food service sector) to have a Mandarin Chinese language label using traditional characters affixed before products can clear customs.
The Taiwan authorities strictly enforce food and beverage labelling requirements. Improper or altered labels risk rejection by the local inspector at the port of entry.
The label must indicate the following information in Chinese:
- Product name
- Name, weight, volume or quantity of the contents (if a mixture of two or more components, they must be listed separately)
- Name of food additives
- Name, telephone number, and detailed address of manufacturer
- Name, telephone number, and detailed address of importer, for imported foods
- Country of origin (effective January 1, 2008, based on manufacturing date)
- Expiration date (year, month, day) must be printed in that order. To distinguish the month from the day, the Chinese characters for ‘month’ and ‘day’ may be included on the label. If the normal shelf life exceeds three months, the expiration date may be indicated by year and month only. Date of manufacture, shelf life, and conditions of storage may also be used, if required by the health authorities.
- Dairy products in liquid form must also indicate shelf life and conditions of storage
There are two regulations governing nutritional information for packaged food: the ‘Regulation on Nutritional Labelling for Packaged Food’ and the ‘Regulation on Nutrition Claims for Packaged Food.
For further details, please visit the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health’s website: www.fda.gov.tw/EN/index.aspx.
Bureau of Food Safety
Department of Health
12th Floor, 100 Ai Guo East Road
Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: +886 2 2321 0151
Fax: +886 2 2392 9723
Marketing your products and services
Market entry
Australian food suppliers should have a well-planned marketing strategy and provide an assurance of quality in order to build a solid reputation with buyers. This is fundamental to taking advantage of the diverse range of opportunities available in Taiwan. Before exporting, you should:
- Assess current demand for the product or service in Taiwan
- Identify levels of local production and imports of the product
- Identify major players in the market and potential agents and distributors
- Understand the regulatory processes, import tariffs and trading regime relevant to the product or service
- Identify competing products or services in the market and the organisations servicing this competition
Taiwan buyers remain extremely price-conscious, and have a preference for stable and well-proven products, turn-key solutions, and a strong reliance and expectation on the supplier to provide after-sales service support.
It is also important to be aware of significant cultural differences in Taiwan. As well as having a general understanding of the historical and cultural background of Taiwan, you need to understand and practice the day-to-day business culture if you are to foster alliances.
Australian food is well known and well regarded in the Taiwan market and has an image of being consistently of high quality, healthy and natural. To export successfully in Taiwan, you should:
- Develop a good marketing plan with a long-term vision
- Provide high-quality and consistent produce
- Establish strong relationships with supermarkets and importers with good distribution channels
- Visit Taiwan frequently to support your agent and participate in trouble-shooting proactively
- Follow up on issues raised in your visits
Distribution channels
Depending on the product there are various distribution chains or channels that are used by traders. Over the past 10 years, the following changes have occurred in the unprocessed food distribution system:
- Introduction of large retail chains such as Carrefour and RT-Mart
- Development of distribution firms to service the large retail chains
- Increasing direct sales between importers and retailers and wholesalers
- Development of direct purchasing channels between retailers and wholesale markets
For meat products the traditional distribution route is importer to wholesaler, then distributor to retailer, caterer or food service industry. However, the importer, wholesaler and distributor are often the same company for imported meat. Also, imported meats are only available in Western-style supermarkets and hypermarkets with adequate refrigeration facilities, where they are butchered into different cuts and packaged. By comparison, in traditional local markets, consumers select the cut of meat they require from a large piece.
For fruit, vegetable and seafood produce, there are three major distribution options:
- Direct sales – exporter to retailer such as a supermarket and hypermarket
- Two-level – exporter to importer to retailer (ie. the food service industry)
- Three-level – exporter to importer to wholesaler to retailer (ie. the food service industry)
For other general food produce, supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores are the major retail outlets. Major coffee shop chains are a promising new route for dairy products.
Links and industry contacts
Food–related resources
Food And Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare – www.fda.gov.tw/EN/index.aspx
Bureau of Animal and Plant Inspection and Quarantine – www.baphiq.gov.tw/index/index.html
Fisheries Administration Taiwan – www.fa.gov.tw/eindex
Food Industry Research and Development Institute – www.firdi.org.tw
Media
China Post – www.chinapost.com.tw
Taipei Times – www.taipeitimes.com
Contact details
The Australian Trade Commission – Austrade – is the Australian Government’s trade, investment and education promotion agency.
Through a global network of offices, Austrade assists Australian companies to grow their international business, attracts productive foreign direct investment into Australia and promotes Australia’s education sector internationally.
For more information on how Austrade can assist you, contact us on:
Australia ph: 13 28 78 | Email: info@austrade.gov.au
A list of Austrade offices (in alphabetical order of country) is also available.