Five-in-one food expo gathers over 66,700 visitors

FOOD TAIPEI 2016, which took place at both Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center and the TWTC Exhibition hall from 22-25 June 2016, had five main exhibiting themes considering the food manufacturing and services industries across two venues. These are the Taipei International Food Show, Taipei International Packaging Industry Show, Taiwan International Halal Expo, Taipei International Food Processing and Pharmatech Machinery show as well as Taiwan International Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show.

The “Five-in One” event was presented by 1,100 exhibitors, 2,148 booths in total, and with an overwhelming 59,000-plus local and over 7,700 international visitors. Potentially being one of the largest food shows in Asia, Food Taipei’s capacity to cover such diverse sectors in one expo has attracted food manufacturers, equipment suppliers as well as consumers from around the world.

It is worth noting that the expo provided clear and balanced floor plans of booths representing different parties of the food industry, with arranged pavilions for different countries, associations, and local producers. These arrangements made it easier for visitors to find their products and exhibitors.

Exhibitors fully showcased their innovations, practicality, and imagination of the future of food.

Pronas from Indonesia and Tanaka from Japan were among exhibitors who are known to be both long-established and successful.In the following interviews with these companies, we learn about their formula for success as well as their corporate strategies in realizing their goals in Taiwan and the global market. We also learn about their insights into food production and how they adapt for the coming new food era.

PT Canning Indonesian Products, Pt Bahtera Wiraniaga Internusa

Pronas was one of the first food manufacturers to provide canned food and canned meat in Asia. Established 70 years ago, the company located in Denpasar, Bali, easily supplied canned food and frozen bacon to the Japanese Navy during WWII. Today, the company has grown into a market leader in the region. Being the first in Southeast Asia to manufacture canned meat, Pronas is especially renowned for their main featuring product – corned beef. Apart from corned beef, it also provides corned chicken, beef or chicken sausages, ready meals, canned vegetable, pasta, and stir fry sauces.

Silvia Candrawati C, marketing manager at Pronas

“Due to different eating cultures, we understand that canned meat might be a new idea to the visitors here today. Corned beef is ready to eat, or scrambled with other ingredients in stir fry,” said marketing manager, Silvia Candrawati C.

She added that canned beef is popular in Southeast Asian countries, the Middle East, Japan and Korea. Despite the diverse cultural background in these countries, Pronas’ canned products are consumed there by different groups of people, whether they may have a pure preference for canned products or for Halal food for religious reasons.

Ms Silvia and her company see the potential of introducing canned meat to the Taiwanese market. First of all, for Taiwanese families, canned meat is not considered an everyday food, in comparison to canned seafood (e.g. canned fishes, scallops). Therefore, there is a great space to promote canned meat in Taiwan.

Ms Silvia is amazed by the great diversity of Taiwan’s cuisine, and besides, she also noticed that people consume a considerable amount of meat. It is thus reasonable to introduce Pronas’ products to Taiwan. Secondly, an increasing numbers of immigrants from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and other ASEAN markets, and even Indians are settling in Taiwan. Providing canned Halal meat is therefore a great idea for the growing population who come from distinct eating cultural backgrounds.

When asked what the company expects to gain from this food exhibition, Ms. Silvia answered: “We hope to make Taiwan a major destination for exporting since we started to be engaged in the international market last year. We believe that being able to be competitive in the Taiwanese food industry implies excellent product quality and taste. So it is a market where we want to make our products well-recognizable.”

Viewing Taiwan as the departure point for a broader international representation, Pronas will keep on its well-managed standard in food production. The company meets Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP) and ISO 9001 standard, on top of several awards received – top brands in Indonesia of year 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.

Being able to come as one of the representatives of Indonesian food industry at the Indonesian Pavillion at Food Taipei expo 2016, Ms. Silvia is looking forward to establish closer links with Taiwan’s food industry, and find long-term partners for a foreseeable future of canned meat in the Asian Pacific region.

Tanaka Foods

Tanaka is a century-old Japanese manufacturer of Furikake, or flakes made with seasoned dried fruits, vegetable, fish flakes, and other ingredients. The main ingredients are often sesame, dried laver (seaweed), bonito flakes, fish flour, wakame seaweed, perilla, plum, Japanese radish leaf, powdered green tea and dehydrated egg crumbs. Furikake is an everyday product for the Japanese family, as it is flavorsome, convenient and a must-have with rice and other dishes.

Executive Managing Director Takayuki Tanaka and Department Manager Zheng Tanjin of Tanaka Foods

At Food Taipei 2016, we spoke with Executive Managing Director of Tanaka Foods, Takayuki Tanaka whose predecessor was the founder of the corporation. According to Mr Tanaka, the company’s history traces back to the 1900s. They were the first food manufacturer to supply Furikake to the Navy close to a fishing village, during WWI. The very first products were manufactured in 1916. Particularly relying on easy packaging, and the many uses of Furikake, the company began a popular product, first within the Navies, fishermen, and then among travelers.

“Tanaka Food certainly is the inventor of Furikake, and certainly the one which initiated this kind of eating culture,” said department manager Mr Zheng Tanjin. The packaging has evolved with time, from iron bottle to plastic bottle, to sachets (mini packs). Furikake can be seen as a common nourishment for commuters and travelers around Japan.

The procedure of making Furikake is to dry the fish flakes that are well-cooked in fish soup extract, and then to add the other ingredients (such as sesame, seaweed). After quality selection, the Furikake flakes are ready to be packaged.  

Considering the manufacturing quality, all the ingredients used in production are genuine, and well-monitored through the production line in Tanaka factory. As the premier brand of Furikake, Tanaka Foods makes their products with affection, passion and care. In 2012 the company was awarded “Excellent Food Hygiene Facility by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Prize” in Japan (26 October 2012), another food safety certification and reassurance for customers.

Mr Zheng also stressed on the “additive-free” product series, expecting this series would create another trend of health awareness.  

Being able to flourish and pace through a new century, Tanaka Foods operates both with persistence and resilience. It has diversified its product line to a number of variation of seasoning products, and soup sachets.

Being established in Japan and its products well incorporated in the Japanese diet, the company has a vision of introducing its products overseas, said Mr Tanaka. On the quest of going global, it is not surprising that one of the first stops is to attend the food exhibition in Taiwan. Taiwanese are pretty familiar with the Japanese diet, and Furikake is popular to the locals. Mr Tanaka hopes to expand the influence and elevate the company’s profile on the international level, not only in Taiwan but in ASEAN markets as well.

For the next hundreds of years, the food manufacturer is opting for more innovations to reinvigorate the flow of energy throughout the company, so that Tanaka Foods can present dishes more flavored and much healthier.