Food Taipei -- 2018

USHBC exhibits at the Food Taipei June 27-30!  How can I forget my first Food Taipei exposition in 1990s!  We Flew 15 hours on a plane with a smoking section.  (yuck) Took a taxi to the expo center and smacked a crazy motorbike driver.  Arrived just in time for a 6.5 earthquake which re-arranged everything.   (Ask Mark Villata)

It was interesting to see locals -- especially young ladies lined up to taste their first blueberries.  They tasted and pointed to skin with a big smile.

Here we are in 2018!   Taiwanese love fresh blueberries --especially from the USA which is a "brand" they trust.   The biggest change has been the developments in the Taiwanese food industry.  While there have bee ups and downs in fresh, the processed side continues to grow.   Each year, we attend Food Taipei and connect with new food processing companies such as dairy, baking and candy as well as Taiwanese favorites as traditional moon cakes.   Taiwan has a wide based small food industry, has pioneered LOHAS  (Lifestyle Oriented Health and Sustainability) and are also big into organics and just about every food trend that comes from Japan, Korea or the USA. Now Taiwan is a trendsetter for all of "Greater China" including the People's Republic, and all of the countries of Southeast Asia where "overseas" Chinese run many food industries.

Island of Innovation:  The small Taiwanese companies were the first to start innovating with blueberries.   Now the "big guys" like Unipresident (largest food manufacturer in all of Asia), I-Mei and others are stepping into blueberries.  Besides meeting at the conferences, we stay connected with R & D, hold meetings, seminars and stay in touch.   (Taiwan companies are some of the leaders in Mainland Chinese good business)  Some of the most important developments in China are a result of our Taiwan connection.

UNI President - A leader in Asian Food Business

Food Taipei 2018.  The big show runs from June 27-30 at the Taipei Nangang Expo Center.  The excitement is building and USHBC will hold court in the USA Pavilion sponsored by our super-helpful friends at the American Institute in Taiwan(AIT) Agricultural Trade Office. This year we are introducing blueberry ingredient solutions and also focus on frozen and our USA food safety legacy.  We are even constructing a cardboard cutout of Doc Blueberry with QR code to make things interesting.  Wei Yang of Oregon State University is a "rock star" in Taiwan.