The Taiwan Salt Industrial Corp (Taisalt,
The company aims to increase its sales of health and beauty products to NT$950 million from last year's NT$150 million within the year, Chairman Cheng Pao-Ching (
Cheng said Taisalt has always been good at technology research and the manufacturing of salt-related products. "But, we lack know-how in marketing, so we have decided to link up with Tait Marketing & Distribution Co (
Tait, a leading distributor that markets groceries, personal care products, beverages and wines in Taiwan, will help improve Taisalt's branding and distribution network, Cheng said.
The company's health and beauty products include shampoos, bath gels, facial cleanser and toothpaste.
The products differ from most other products in the market in that they all contain a special ingredient -- sea salt.
Cheng said the products' current packaging design and advertisements may be a little bit out of date, and the company hopes to give the public a new impression of itself in the near future.
"With Tait's strong distribution network in Taiwan, we are confident we can create more than NT$950 million in sales over the next 12 months," said Ed Shyurng (
Tait currently has ties with more than 60,000 retailers around the nation, including supermarkets, hypermarkets, drug stores, restaurants and traditional, personally owned shops.
Taisalt started shipping out its health and beauty products to other countries last year.
"This year we estimate to generate NT$600 million in sales from the US and Hong Kong markets combined, as well as NT$100 million in sales from China," Taisalt's Cheng said. He added that the state-run company aims to make NT$4 billion in sales or NT$500 million in profit by the end of the year.
To expand its product line, Taisalt is scheduled to put new skin-care products like skin toner, lotion and whitening essence on shelves within the next two months.
Commenting on the newly for-med partnership between Taisalt and Tait, a retail market professional said Taisalt is going the right way by improving its marketing skills.
"The brand awareness by local consumers of Taisalt-brand health and beauty products is relatively low," said Kimberly Chang (
She said the reason for this is because Taisalt doesn't run commercials or special offers all the time.
"However, we found that their customers are quite loyal ? which means Taisalt products' quality is reliable," Chang said.
According to RT-Mart -- one of the nation's major retailers, which run about 20 hypermarts in Taiwan -- the average age of shoppers buying Taisalt products is between 30 and 40, while recently that figure has gradually declined and more and more teenagers had become users.
In addition, prices of Taisalt Shampoo, conditioner or facial cleaner is about NT$150 each. "These items are gaining market share because of good quality and relatively low prices," Chang said.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS