Illustrative Photo: Internet

According to statistics from Taiwan Customs, this country spent US$232.9 million to import 295,500 tons of vegetables between January to September 2021, up 3.9% in volume and 13.2% in value year-on-year.

Vietnam was the largest supplier of vegetables (HS code 07) to the Taiwanese market. The imports from Vietnam accounted for 20.6% of the total imports of vegetables.

This shows that consumers in the Taiwanese market are very interested in Vietnamese vegetables, opening opportunities for businesses to export vegetables to the market in the near future.

In terms of categories, in the past nine months of 2021, Taiwan was the largest importer of cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, kale and cruciferous veggies which are fresh or chilled (HS code 0704), reaching 93,900 tons, worth US$45.8 million, up 33.4% in volume and 46.3% in value over the same period in 2020.

Vietnam was the largest supplier of these products to Taiwan in the past nine months with 51,700 tons, worth US$26.4 million, up 117.8% in volume and 130% in value over the same period in 2020, accounting for 55% of the total import volume of HS 0704 codes into this market.

According to FreshPlaza.com, the water shortage from the end of 2020 to the first half of 2021 has affected Taiwan's vegetable production. The hurricane season from mid-2021 has also hampered production. The lower-than-normal domestic supply has pushed local vegetable prices to new highs.

Besides, Taiwan has the second highest density of convenience stores in the world. The rapid expansion of retail outlets in recent years has given consumers greater access to food and beverage products. In addition, the Taiwanese market has a highly developed economy, high GDP per capita and a high spending rate on food per capita.