Taiwan’s coffee industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the past two decades, and annual average coffee consumption in Taiwan last year reached 1.8kg per person, exceeding the 1.4kg average per person for tea.
It is possible that this could be an indication that coffee could soon replace tea as Taiwan’s go-to drink.
From the 4.73 hectares of coffee planted in 2001 to the 1,153.21 hectares planted last year, it is apparent that a large number of people are investing in the coffee industry, Taiwan Coffee Laboratory researcher Lin Jen-an (林仁安) said on Tuesday last week, citing statistics provided by the Council of Agriculture.
Photo courtesy of Lion Travel
Most coffee farms that have earned themselves a good reputation are located on mountains 700m above sea level, and many have been repurposed from tea farms, he said.
The frequent interaction between coffee farmers, baristas and roasters gives Taiwan’s coffee industry its competitive edge, as it aims to attract more attention at the Private Collection Auction today.
Lin said that Taiwan is the only place in the world, with the exception of Hawaii, in which there is nearly no distance between production and consumption.
Like the Hawaiian Kona beans, Taiwan’s beans cost more but have excellent taste, which would give Taiwan an edge in making a name for itself in the international gourmet coffee market, he added.
Comparing the quality of Taiwan’s coffee to the Geisha bean produced in Panama’s Hacienda La Esmeralda region, which sells for US$156 per kilogram, Lin said that Taiwan is looking to obtain a good price on its first appearance on the international coffee bidding scene.
At the event, a panel of 26 judges from five countries are scheduled to select nine of the best brews out of 19 entries of Taiwan-grown coffee beans for auctioning, the Alliance of Coffee Excellence said.
The beans selected are then to be auctioned online, with buyers from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the US, New Zealand, Australia and Saudi Arabia doing the bidding, the alliance said.
Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute director Fang Yi-chou (方怡舟) said that the institute has obtained a patent for the first locally cultivated type of coffee, which can be planted in plains and can yeild 1.2 times more beans than current coffee plants.
Fang said that the institute hopes to promote the new bean among local growers soon.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS