Marketing in Taiwan?

Business Money
1

Hi everyone,

I am currently in Taiwan for research purposes. A close friend of mine is a leading producer of dried fruit/vegetables in Turkey. They want to make business/export to Taiwan. Do you know how to proceed with the marketing in Taiwan? They tried to reach out a couple of distributors but it seems they don’t get any feedback. I am not sure whether sending e-mail in English to Taiwanese companies is the right way. Another issue is whether the e-mail is a reliable way of correspondence for Taiwanese companies. Would be very happy if you would suggest a marketing agent/advisory services or any reasonable way to get in touch with the companies in Taiwan. Thank you in advance

2

You could contact the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei for more advice

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3

Either go there in person or call.

Taiwanese do not do emails, they almost never answer them.

In fact lots of major distributors have no website except for some 1980s crap that is copy and pasted from printed catalogs.

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4

Hi Chydals, thank you for your reply. In fact, i contacted them and i am told that they will get back to me, still waiting… lets see…

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5

English could be a problem. I think it would help if you had a local who speaks Chinese supporting your efforts.

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Dear Taiwan Luthiers,

Your answer is very appreciated. Good to know that they need to meet the companies personally (maybe at a food fair), or hire some native Taiwanese to contact companies.

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Hi RBE, thank you for your reply. Is there any local web page to hire freelancers for kind of jobs?

8

Have you reached out to the largest players already:
President Food owns the Santa Fe organic stores (I recall seeing dried fruit there),
Carrefour just bought out Wellcome so they are the clear leader in groceries,
PXMart is the largest homegrown grocer,
RT Mart is the next largest and has hypermarts.

The following list may only target the foreign community, but it should give you an idea of specialist grocers that may be interesting for your friend (don’t forget that Jason’s and Wellcome are now part of Carrefour)
https://taiwanexpatguide.com/2018/06/10/166/

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9

That, and most staff will not know any English so any English emails is forwarded to someone else where it gets lost…

But as others have said, President Corp owns almost everything food related. So they are a good place to start. But you will need to find the contact within the company who speaks English. I think Turkish embassy could help.

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Dear GooseEgg,

Thank you. I will definetly get in touch with the companies you have mentioned.

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Got a line on any cheap figs? Figs are very expensive here.

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12

Hi the Bear,

Unfortunately, the figs are not in the product portfolio. You can have a look at the web page of the company: https://www.tazekuru.com/

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13

Not that I’m familiar with. Maybe the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei could recommend somebody you can work with.

Also, have you looked at the tariff rates for the products you’re interested in importing?

14

Yumm, Tarhana Soup!

I guess you are aware that Taiwan has lots of fruit, and also dried fruit production? So I hope that you can find some unique selling points for your products.

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Another thing to watch out for is tariff.

If you are importing something that competes with domestic industry expect a stiff tariff.

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Next month ( November 13 (Fri.) - 16 (Mon.), 2020 ) is the Taiwan International Food Industry Show at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1

Maybe you can visit this exhibition and contact companies that could help you sell your products

Also , there is other exhibition (Taiwan SMART Agriweek) on December 3-5

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@atesahmet are you sure about the figs @the_bear asked about? Your website shows dried figs I think, for 9.99TL which would be around 37NTD and thus very cheap:

Screenshot_20201007-142239_Chrome
Screenshot_20201007-142239_Chrome1080×1878 672 KB

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18

Hi RBE,
It seems the tariff is around %25. Yes, as you said, there are also dried fruits in Taiwan. But in terms of prices, there is a huge difference. On average, the prices in Turkey are %60-%80 cheaper

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Oh yes, it seems i have overlooked it, thank you. Yes, prices are competitive, indeed.

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Yes, the tariff is around %25 for the dried fruits

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