Producers from Taiwan are looking to break into the UK market following a recent government fact-finding mission.
Ministers from Taiwan visited the UK to assess the market potential for the country’s wide-ranging fruit and flower production.
Kuo Yao-Chi, minister of state, said Taiwan has a rich diversity of fruits to offer: “The climate ranges from sub-tropical to tropical which makes it an ideal environment for a wide range of fruits.”
At the moment, Taiwan exports very little to the UK in terms of flowers, and virtually no fruit at all. “Last year we only exported around $200,000 to the UK and that’s just flowers, none of it fruits. You never know what you can achieve until you try, and that’s why we’re here,” said Yao-Chi.
“We’re confident that Taiwan’s fruit is excellent and can easily meet UK consumers’ requirements.”
The Taiwanese are hoping to establish a presence in the UK market for a number of core products, including citrus, guava, mangoes, lychees, starfruit, pineapples and possibly even bananas.
In terms of production, Taiwan produces close to 2.7 million tonnes of fruit a year, which includes around 550,000t of citrus, 460,000t of pineapples, 180,000t of mangoes, 185,000t of guavas. The country has a total production area of 218,650 hectares.
Total exports currently stand at just 47,000t, however with bananas heading the list at 18,000t.
Producers are now looking to establish relationships with UK importers, said Amy Tso, the industry’s UK representative. “We are looking to bring in high quality product at a good price, but we’re aiming to compete on the quality, not the price.”
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