The nation’s first coffee trade center was yesterday founded in the Aboriginal Ulaljuc community in Pingtung County’s Taiwu Township (泰武).
The county government first helped local farmers establish the Alliance of Coffee in Pingtung’s Aboriginal Townships, which became the foundation for the trade center.
More than 350 hectares in the county are used for coffee cultivation by 360 coffee farmers, Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said yesterday, adding that both figures were higher than in any other municipality.
The center can serve as a platform for trading classified coffee beans, through which farmers can secure stable incomes, he said.
With the production area as an umbrella brand, local farmers can develop their own distinctive products while working together to break into the international market, he added.
US Web site coffeereview.com has listed the county’s coffee among the top three in the Asia-Pacific region, while the county was identified as a representative production area in Taiwan, Pan said.
The county on Thursday signed a purchase memorandum with US-based Isla Custom Coffees, in which promised to buy 7 tonnes of coffee beans from the county over 10 years, he said.
During his fourth visit to Taiwan, company founder R. Miguel Meza was quoted by Pingtung Indigenous Peoples Department Director-General Wu Li-hua (伍麗華) as saying that he was surprised to see how much progress the county has made in coffee production.
Meza added that he believed the county’s coffee would one day claim a prominent position in the world, Wu said.
Trade at the center proceeds like auctions of coffee beans in other countries, but the center offers a special service — quick tests for insecticide residue, alliance secretary-general Tang Sheng (唐笙) said.
Coffee beans grown in Pingtung are Typica, a cultivar of arabica, Tang said.
Because Typica beans are not easy to cultivate, global production of the cultivar has dropped, Tang said.
The Typica beans have acquired a special flavor after about 100 years of cultivation in Taiwan, he added.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,