The fact-finding mission took place between the 26th of July and the 6th of August 2022. The mission was to identify and map opportunities in the cold chain sector for fruits and vegetables for Dutch cold chain companies and knowledge institutes. In this 7-day mission, the team visited wholesale markets, wet markets, vegetable/ flower auction markets, cooperatives, orchid exporters, fruit suppliers, logistic companies, and mushroom growers.
Visit to the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation. © NLOT
Background and opportunity
Taiwan produces a lot of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. However, much is lost after harvest in the value chain. In recent years, agricultural product distribution channels have slowly changed from traditional wholesale markets and distributors to e-commerce and large supermarkets. Furthermore, Taiwan is ambitious to export fresh products to other Southeast Asian countries and Europe. The higher demand for high-quality local and export goods requires keeping these products fresh for extended periods, meaning that the market needs cold chain system for longer shelf life and quality.
Seeing the opportunity in the cold chain field, Netherlands Office Taipei (NLOT) conducted a market study on the current status of the Taiwanese cold chain sector, outlining what is needed to (further) improve/upgrade this sector and identifying challenges Taiwanese farmers face.
Visit to the Taipei Flower Auction. © NLOT
Fact-finding mission & workshop on cold chain for horticulture
NLOT undertook this project with an expert, Mr. Maarten Smit, from GMBS Business Support. In this 7-day mission, the team visited;
- Wholesale markets: Carrefour
- Vegetable and flower auction markets: Taipei Flower Auction Co., Ltd., Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation
- Cooperative: Sun Fresh
- Orchid exporters: Ryuen International Co., Ltd., Symon Agricultural Biotech Co., Ltd.
- Fruit supplier: Fu-Fruit Co., Ltd.
- Logistic company: RD&D logistic Co., Ltd., iAmech
- Mushroom grower: Wan Shen Science and Technology Agriculture Co., Ltd.
- Food producer: I-Mei
During the fact-finding visit, NLOT organized a workshop with the Council of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology Research Institute in Tainan. The participants were mainly government, researchers, and producers. The participating producers discussed in two groups and pointed out that “organization and management of the value chain” are the most challenging issues in the cold value chain they have. The possible solutions proposed by the participants were as follows;
- Establish an organization to provide market information
- Establish overseas offices to communicate about overseas demands
- Establish an organization to build relationships between companies
- Industry integration
- Fair/reasonable profit-sharing mechanisms
- Raise awareness with consumers on (cold) value chain
Fruits and vegetable wholesale market in Taipei. © NLOT
Asia agri-tech expo & forum
NLOT will participate at the Asia Agri-tech Expo & Forum, Taipei, on the 10-12th of November 2022. A booth for the Dutch cold chain sector will be part of the National Pavilion. A seminar on Horticultural cold chain technology will also be organized on the 10th of November.
Cold chain workshop held with Agricultural Technology and Research Institute(ATRI). © NLOT
Source: www.agroberichtenbuitenland.nl.