Taipei Int'l Food Show 2010 Packages Two Related Events in One Venue

Three-in-one event sets record of 1,254 exhibitors

The 2010 Taipei International Food Show, held June 23-26, combined Food Taipei, Taipei Pack and FoodTech & Pharmatech Taipei under one roof at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall, attracting a record high of some 50,000 visitors from home and abroad. The 20-year trade event also set a record with 1,254 exhibitors in 2,753 booths.

The annual three-in-one food show is widely viewed as the best platform for overseas buyers to purchase Asian foods and production equipment, with the event co-organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Taiwan Food & Pharmaceutical Machinery Manufacturers' Association and China (Taipei) Packaging Association.

Despite focusing on the domestic market these days, the food sector in Taiwan led foreign trade growth in the 1950s, during which exports of canned pineapple, mushrooms and bamboo shoots generated considerable foreign exchange revenue.

Alongside the growth of Taiwan's food industry, so has grown for several decades the food processing machinery and packaging sectors.

Undaunted by underselling of counterparts in S. Korea, China and Thailand, Taiwanese manufacturers in this line offer high quality and reasonably priced food processing machinery, exporting single machine or turnkey plants to underscore production versatility, helping the domestic food processors manufacturers secure massive orders from food suppliers of emerging markets.

Downturn-defying Growth

The Taiwan food industry's output totaled US$16.67 billion in 2009, for a 1.7% increase from the previous year in spite of the global downturn, according to a report released by the ITIS (Industry & Technology and Intelligence Services) under the Food Industry Research and Development Institute.

In recent years, Taiwan-based packaging makers have been pursuing diversified, sophisticated and automated techniques, as well as trying to supply green packing machinery and materials to meet rising demand for eco-friendly products.

With India and China being the two most robust emerging economies, food-related companies in Taiwan are developing new technologies and products to tap such markets, where the Chinese population numbers 1.3 billion and Indian not far behind.

Taiwan-based food suppliers continue to perfect quality while complying with global safety standards as ISO and Halal certification.

C.F. Hsu, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, notes that the government has long considered food-related businesses to be crucial to national economic development. Compared with China, Southeast Asia and other neighbors, says Hsu, Taiwan has more advanced processing and R&D technologies to develop high value-added, processed foods.

Emerging Markets

The 2010 Foodtech & Pharmatech Taipei and Taipei Pack attracted 295 companies in 931 booths, including many local leaders as Anko, Chung Shen, Yang Jeng, Lao Soung, Ling-Kwang Industrial, Der En, Yung Soon Lih etc., which showcased innovative, specialized products as food and beverage processors, baking and restaurant equipment, food packaging machinery, pharmaceuticals processing and packaging machinery.

Emerging markets, once neglected, are now strategic targets to expand exports, with demand from these regions like Latin America, Asia and China being particularly receptive to Taiwan's food and packaging machinery.

These regions often boast huge populations of young consumers who are prime targets for development by leading corporations, while Taiwanese firms are well positioned to enter these areas with foods and packaging machinery being world-class and internationally certified with CE and ISO, with the main advantage being that Taiwan-made products are European-quality but more competitively priced.

Stable Growth

The theme at Taipei Pack was eco-friendliness. “The packaging industry has no distinguishing features despite showing its product all over daily,” notes Taiwan-based China (Taipei) Packaging Association chairman K.H. Lin. Holding the three-in-one event creates maximum commercial benefit for exhibitors to offer visitors convenient sourcing of the latest products and services, which are interrelated among the three events.

This year 145 manufacturers in packaging machinery and packaging materials signed up for 463 booths, a 9.5% increase from 422 booths last year. “The growth in participants proves Taiwan's packaging industry has survived the global recession,” says Lin.

C.S. Liu, chairman of Taiwan's Food and Pharmaceutical Machinery Manufacturing Association, describes 2010 as one full of unprecedented challenges for the sector. As far as exports are concerned, Liu points out Taiwan has succeeded in expanding global market share. “With efficiency and total division of labor, the sector has established strong competitiveness globally for many years and survived the downturn in the past two years, when the global economy roller coastered,” say Liu, also believing the enactment of the Industrial Innovation Act will help Taiwan's food and pharmaceutical machinery sectors to progress and win bigger markets.

Taiwan Pavilion

As in previous shows, the Taiwan Pavilion gathered local food-related suppliers, numbering 94 exhibitors across 1,674 square meters, showing agricultural, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry products, without neglecting to display authentic items as Irwin mangos, pineapples, papayas, oolong tea, plum wine, mullet, caviar, shredded dried sailfish, salted mackerel fillets etc.

One of the eye-catching exhibitors at the FoodTech & Pharmatech Taipei show was Pick Food & Machinery Corporation, which displayed three machines, including the BR06-series multi-line automatic form-fill-seal-cut packing machine, MM06-series automatic form-fill-seal-cut packing machine, and XYN-series high-speed automatic form-fill-seal-cut packing machine.

Multi-functionality

Pick Food & Machinery Corporation, founded in 1977 in Shenken, Taipei County, northern Taiwan, specializes in development and production of automatic packaging machinery, and after decades of development, has established headquarters and a production and research base in Touliu, Yunlin County, central Taiwan.

Backed by expertise in developing cutting-edge packaging machines, the company is ISO9001, 14001 and CE certified, with solid foundation in the domestic market and expanding presence globally.

In addition to making automatic packaging machines, Pick Food & Machinery also has a food factory to focus on seasonings, claiming to be Taiwan's first food manufacturer to be “food good manufacturing practice” certified by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1993.

This supplier's major product line includes powder/liquid/granule automatic filling and packing system, multi-line automatic form-fill-seal-cut packing machine, high-speed automatic form-fill-seal-cut packing machine etc., as well as offering turnkey plants and layout planning and design service.

Packaging Materials & Machinery

Another exhibitor, Allen Plastic Industries Co. and founded in 1980, is noted for long-term dedication to developing innovative packaging materials in Taiwan, as well as high-quality products at reasonable prices, all of which have helped to build good reputation at home and abroad.

The company's major product lines include PVC/ polyolefin shrink films, PVC colorful shrink labels, PVC shrink tubing, OPP labels, PVC films/sheets, PET foils, poly bags, packaging machinery and film/tube extruding equipment.

With a workforce of 50, the company's monthly capacity is 200 tons of packaging materials in addition to several units of machinery.

The long-term R&D program has enabled the company to post 15% to 20% annual growth in sales over the past three years, with the company claiming over 20% annual sales growth this year, likely driven by its consistent participation in well-established international plastics and rubber, and packaging shows.

With a factory in Kaohsiung County, southern Taiwan, Allen Plastic will begin construction of a new factory nearby to occupy 2,450 square meters.

Horizontal Wrapping Machine

Another frequent exhibitor is Hersonber Industrial Co., Ltd., headquartered in Fengyuan, Taichung County in central Taiwan, which has been in the packaging business since 1979, accumulating three decades of experience in designing and manufacturing horizontal servo-flow wrapping machines.

Focused on design and production of packaging equipment and systems, Hersonber boasts expertise to compete with world-famous brands in operation stability and product quality, and is able to offer products at half price of European counterparts.

The company claims to have built good reputation for its well-established expertise in designing and manufacturing machines for flexible packages to provide turnkey, automatic lines.

Hersonber's horizontal-flow wrapping machines are designed to continually package solid products in pillow packs, starting from flat roll sheets, cold or hot sealed, as well as all polyethylene materials.

The packaging machines developed by Hersonber feature medium- and high-speed operation for single product and multi-pack operations for food, baked and confectionery products, as well as chemical and pharmaceutical items, spare-parts, plastic products, cosmetics, toys and gifts.

The 40 models of machinery available are roughly divided into flow wrap, vertical fill, form seal packaging machines, which can be installed with various automatic feed systems and optioned according to customers' requests.

With an in-house R&D team, Hersonber says customers can order custom-made machines, and has exported 85% of output to some 42 nations.