Cerebos (Taiwan) Ltd (台灣食益補), which distributes Brand's essence of chicken in the local market, yesterday announced it planned to tap into another burgeoning sector -- essence of clam -- and vowed to corner the market.
Its participation in this new segment is expected to shake up the industry, considering its strong brand name and flexible marketing tactics, company executives said.
"Some have speculated that our entry into the essence of clam market is a result of difficulties encountered in expanding our sales of essence of chicken. I'd say [revenues of] our trademark product are still growing and the decision was made purely to meet consumer demand and sharpen our competitiveness," said Andy Feng (馮南陽), Cerebos' senior vice president and chief executive officer, during a product launch.
Believing that essence of clam has great potential as public awareness of the health benefits of such supplements has increased, the company dedicated three years to research and development and has every confidence it will secure a significant market share.
"We'll invest NT$50 million [US$1.5 million] during the first year, and aim to grow the market and rake in sales of NT$100 million after 12 months," said Janice Leu (
According to the company's own market survey, some people shy away from essence of clam because of its offensive smell.
"It was very difficult to achieve the technological breakthrough, but I'm proud to say that we've made it by adding wild ginger and garlic to make it palatable," Feng said.
Feng also claimed that their product was 37 percent more concentrated than competitors'. He didn't name the competition, although Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar,
Taisugar yesterday welcomed its new competitor's entry into the market but shrugged off Cerebos' self-praise.
"They might have a stronger brand but all products must be put to the test and the figures will tell the story. I believe consumers will still find our product better to drink," the state-run firm's public relations official said on condition of anonymity.
Taisugar debuted its product four years ago.
The state-run company reported nearly NT$300 million in sales last year with
a market share of over 97 percent, he said. The company expects NT$500
million in revenue from the product this year, he added.
To strengthen the impression on the health-conscious, Cerebos has decided to
market the drink under a new sub-brand, XuPei (旭沛), as Brand's is so
closely connected to essence of chicken.
According to Cerebos' survey, Taiwan's health-drink market started to show
rapid expansion in 2003 when SARS hit. The industry has grown by NT$1
billion annually since then to record sales of NT$5.4 billion last year.
While essence of chicken accounts for 40 percent with growth slowing down,
essence of clam has become a new favorite with sales jumping annually by 39
percent and 58 percent, respectively, during 2004 and last year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained