ศูนย์นวัตกรรมเทคโนโลยีหลังการเก็บเกี่ยว

Development and constraints of food industries in Taiwan.

Liu TinYin;

JIRCAS International Symposium Series Year: 1999 Issue: No. 7 Pages: 179-189 Ref: 12 ref.

1999

บทคัดย่อ

The food industry in Taiwan has been conspicuous for its significant contribution to post-war economic development. During the 1950s to 1980s, it earned a large amount of foreign exchange critically needed for industrial development. Beginning in the 1980s, the international competitiveness of the food industry in Taiwan has declined significantly due to a sharp increase in production costs. Nevertheless the contemporary upsurge in domestic demand for processed food has provided a suitable environment for the industry to grow steadily. In terms of production value, the food industry is still one of the largest in twenty-two manufacturing industries, and ranking fourth in 1997. As one of the main components of the economy, it contributed to 6.1% of the GNP in 1997. Within the food industry, the top five categories are slaughtering, feed, frozen food, rice husking and non-alcoholic beverages. The single largest export category is frozen food, accounting for more than 60% of total food exports in 1

997. On the other hand, the three largest import categories are alcoholic beverages, frozen food and tobacco, which altogether accounted for 44% of the total food imported in 1997. The food industry in Taiwan has been confronted with a number of constraints, such as labor issues, raw material acquisition, foreign competition, environmental protection and distribution. In addition, the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which occurred in early 1997 has interrupted the stable growth of the industry achieved over the past fifteen years. Many food companies have adopted strategies of diversification, channel integration, strategic alliance and international cooperation, in order to remain competitive on the world market.