Taiwan’s food and beverage industry reported record revenues of NT$235.5 billion (US$7.65 billion) in the first six months of this year, up 4.7 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Wednesday.
Revenue growth for the period was the highest in seven years, thanks to an increase in social media and smartphone use, the ministry said.
As the economy continues to recover and demand for food and beverage services increases, the industry’s overall revenue is forecast to reach a record high this year, compared with last year’s NT$452.3 billion, it said.
Major players in the industry have been aggressively expanding into the global market, but with more internationally famous food and beverage companies entering the Taiwanese market in the past few years, competition has become more intense, the ministry said.
The main problems facing domestic food companies include high personnel turnover, fierce competition, rising material costs and the difficulty of passing rising costs on to consumers, the ministry said
As for beverage stores, their challenges are high rent, fierce competition and high personnel turnover, as well as rising material costs, it said.
Between 2012 and last year, the number of chain store brands in the industry increased from 624 to 970, with restaurant chains accounting for the biggest increase of 201, data provided by the Association of Chain and Franchise Promotion Taiwan (台灣連鎖加盟促進協會) showed.
The number of franchise stores rose from 28,880 to 32,810 during the period, with an increase of 1,737 in the restaurant and catering industry, the data showed.
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