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China's `Taiwan' instant noodles to come home

The top instant noodle producer in China, which is owned by four brothers from Taiwan, is poised to make a "homecoming" shortly, taking advantage of the accession to the WTO of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

A series of instant noodle products carrying the brand name of Master Kang (康師傅), better known in China as Kangshihfu convenient noodles, are expected to hit Taiwan's retail shelves in 2002 at the earliest, according to sources from the Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), the parent company of Tingyi Holding Corp (頂益控股), the Hong Kong-registered producer of the noodles.

A newly-inaugurated Tingyi production operation located in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province has been designated as the key supply base for the instant noodles "exports" exclusively to Taiwan, said officials from the Ting Hsin Group.

Taiwan's Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品), of which Ting Hsin became one of the major shareholders after a 1988 merger, has launched a marketing survey and has readied its distribution systems nationwide for a new battle in the instant noodle market.

According to Ting Hsin offi-cials, the prices Kangshihfu convenient noodles to be distributed in Taiwan will be about half those of their counterpart products processed in Taiwan, threatening to trigger a price war in the lucrative ready-to-serve noodles market, which is believed to be worth about NT$10 billion (US$290 million) annually.

Ting Hsin was the first Taiwan enterprise to invest in the production of instant noodles in China, and its products have emerged as the top brand in China.

The company, whose owners come from Changhua County, entered the China market in 1989 with start-up capital of just a few million New Taiwan dollars, but it has seen its capital grow to more than NT$32 billion in the past 10 years.

Although its annual sales had reached as high as NT$20 billion, Ting Hsin's turnover has been declining in recent years due to growing competition and a too-rapid diversification of its operations.

The group ialso operates a chain of discount grocery stores, a fast food restaurant franchise and computer wholesale plazas in major Chinese cities.

To sharpen its competitiveness and bolster its marketing and production clout, Ting Hsin has conducted a series of mergers and joint-ventures in recent years with corporations in Taiwan and Japan, including Japan's Sanyo Foods and Wei Chuan Foods and Yuan Ta Securities Co (元大證券) in Taiwan.
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