In Taiwan, sweet potato has traditionally been a product consumed by the poor. But Taiwan Sweet Potato has gone about changing that. In its four years of operation, it has managed to grow, market and sell high-quality sweet potatoes in Asia at premium prices.“If you go back 30 years, only poor people ate sweet potatoes because they were very cheap,” said Ignacio Chang of Taiwan Sweet Potato. “But the quality was not very good because it was so cheap. People put a lot of chemicals in them, so they were not of very good quality.” When Taiwan Sweet Potato began selling their produce, most Taiwanese consumers still held that attitude. But in the past few years, Chang believes they've been able to change some minds.
“It was also the case that only old people ate sweet potatoes,” said Chang. “But we got a variety, the Golden, that has a good flavor. People now use it for chips, to make ice cream and so it's kind of a fancy food.” Taiwan Sweet Potato grows and imports about 120 tons of sweet potato every year. The majority of the produce stays in the local market, but every year about 20 tons are exported to Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.
“Japan is like Taiwan in that they are also used to sweet potato. They only care about how it tastes not about how it looks, so our sweet potato does well there,” said Chang. “People in Hong Kong are very interested in healthy food, so the sweet potato also does well there.” South Korea is a trickier market because consumers there are so price-conscious. Taiwan Sweet Potato's products are about 150 percent more expensive than the product there, so selling the premium product has been a hard sell.
The season in Taiwan runs from March through October, but with adequate storage techniques, Taiwan Sweet Potato has produce available year-round. In addition to fresh sales, the company also sells product for processing. But whether it's for the fresh market or not, the product is of high-quality.
“All of our product is high quality,” said Chang. “We do have a lot of competition in selling sweet potatoes, but because we focus on the premium market, it's like we're in a different market. And we pay attention on brand image which is safe, healthy and conscience," ended Chang.
For more information:
Ignacio Chang
She Sun Dae Trading Co., Ltd.
Phone: +886 7 7871215
Mobile: +886-7-7871215; +886-930763333
Fax: +886 7 7878604
Email: chang_chih_ping@hotmail.com