TAIWAN TO THE FORE WITH 6-IN-1 TAIPEI INTERNATIONAL FOOD EXPO
The country’s major exhibition for the food and hospitality industry recently charted a record high 65,000 visitors and over 7,400 international buyers (13% increase from last year) thronging the 3,947 booths. The Expo comprised Food Taipei, Foodtech & Pharmatech Taipei, Taipei Pack, Taiwan HORECA, Taiwan Halal, and the first-ever Laundry Taiwan.
The 2014 edition was also the jumping off point for Laundry Taiwan to provide a procurement platform for hotels, restaurants, and food and beverage enterprises. Companies whose buyers visited the show included Orange Laundry, EBJ Laundry, Laundry King, China Pacific Laundry, Medlight, Evergreen Airline Services Corp., Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei Mandarin Oriental, Grand Hyatt Taipei, Sheraton Grand, Grand Hi-Lai Hotel, W Taipei, Howard Plaza Hotel Kaohsiung, Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Tainan, and the Regent Hotel.
It was an opportunity for Taiwanese food companies to showcase their products to the world through the “Food Sourcing in Taiwan 2014” conference where 58 buyers from 22 countries met 143 companies. A successful example from the conference would be Tong Ho Foods, a canned seafood manufacturer, which met buyers from the U.S., Japan, the Philippines, and China, and arranged for a Romanian buyer to visit their factory. By special invitation, a total of 11 buyers from Dubai, Dakar, Kuwait, and Brunei were also invited to Taiwan to procure halal-certified foods, which is a display of business opportunities of the halal market. Additionally, the one-one-one trade meetings generated about US$18 million in business with 19 international buyers from countries like Canada, Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Turkey. Both conference and meetings brought in over US$50 million in business. Being a hub of great cuisine and adventurous diners, exotic cuisine created a hive of activity as chefs from Spain, Chile, Peru, and Mexico prepared their national delicacies onstage and visitors were invited to sample their efforts. This was held in conjunction with product launches from 35 Taiwanese and abroad. The next edition of the Expo will be held between June 24 and June 27 2015.
For more information, visit www.foodtaipei.com.tw
