Taiwanese bought £106.5 million (US$210 million) of Scotch whisky last year, up 4.4 percent from a year earlier to become the world's sixth-largest consumer of the spirit, according to new figures published by the Scotch Whisky Association last week.
China for the first time joined the top-10 list last year, purchasing £58.2 million worth of the spirit on a 27-percent increase from a year earlier, the association's statistics showed.
The latest statistics released by the Edinburgh-based association last Wednesday indicated that the US remained the largest market for Scotch in dollar terms, reaching £400 million last year.
The US was followed by France, Spain, South Korea, Venezuela, Taiwan, Singapore, South Africa, Greece and China, in that order.
"The local demand for whisky has been on a steady upward trend as the spirit's image is one of quality and class, which is warmly welcomed by Taiwanese drinkers," Hsi Da-ning (奚大寧), chairman of Maxxium Taiwan Ltd (寰盛洋酒), said during a telephone interview yesterday.
Maxxium distributes Absolut Vodka, the Famous Grouse Scotch Whisky, Jim Beam Bourbon and Remy Martin Cognac, among other brands, in Taiwan.
The growing popularity of pure malt whisky, in particular, has become the locomotive driving the rising imports of whisky, Hsi said.
"Pure malt whisky, known for its rich flavor and smell, now accounts for 40 percent of total whisky products in Taiwan, up from 5 percent three years ago," he added.
Malt whisky has in fact been the most robust sector within Scotch whisky for more than a decade, according to an industry report by Dave Broom released by just-drinks.com last November.
"Although it still makes up a small percentage of overall Scotch volumes [a maximum of 10 percent volume overall], its share of voice is considerably higher," said the report, Global Market Review of Malt Whisky -- Forecasts to 2011, which covers such markets as France, the US, the UK, Spain, Italy, Japan, Taiwan, China and India.
Among liquors and spirits, whisky has become the favorite of Taiwanese, accounting for an 85 percent marrket share, the report said, adding that "its popularity will continue to grow."
Taiwan last year imported 14.72 million liters of whisky and Scotch whisky accounted for more than 90 percent, statistics from Directorate General of Customs under the Ministry of Finance showed.
In the local market overall, beer and Kaoliang liquor snatched the top two spots with market shares reaching NT$35 billion (US$1.057 billion) and NT$13 billion respectively. Whisky is next, with NT$10 billion, according to a report in Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) on Friday.
Last year set a record for Scotch whisky, with shipments of both malt and blended whisky increasing worldwide in value and volume, the Scotch Whisky Association said in a statement published on its Web site.
Overall, Scotch whisky exports rose 4 percent in value to £2.47 billion, which the association said is the highest ever and beating a previous high of £2.4 billion recorded in 1997. The export amount also reached a record high of 1.05 billion bottles, up 6 percent on the 2005 level, the association added.
"Building on a record year in 2006, the prospects for Scotch whisky are brighter than they have been for many years," Richard Burrows, chairman of the association, said in the statement.
"I'm greatly encouraged that distillers, large and small, are investing in facilities in Scotland and taking advantage of opportunities worldwide, with markets in Asia, North and South America offering strong potential for growth," he said.
In Asia, the value of Scotch whisky exports increased 2 percent to £546 million ast year, led by demand from drinkers in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and China.
The value of exports to North America increased 6 percent last year and rose 24 percent to Central and South America, led by demand from Brazil and Venezuela, the association said.
In terms of export volume, France continued to be the biggest market of Scotch with shipments of 170.2 million bottles, the association's tallies showed.
France was followed by the US, Spain, Thailand, South Africa, Venezuela, South Korea, Australia, Brazil and Germany.
Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS