The output value of Taiwan’s food processing sector was a record NT$462.9 billion (US$15.51 billion) last year, up 3.16 percent on an annual basis, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Department of Statistics said in a report yesterday.
Growth in the industry — which has set new records for the past four years — is driven mainly by increased production of uncategorized processed foods, including baked and steamed goods, ready-to-eat meals, condiments and seasoning, dietary supplements, dried and instant noodles, candy and refined sugar, and processed tea.
Those products contributed NT$210.2 billion, or 45 percent, of the industry’s total output last year, a 4.92 percent gain from a year earlier, the report said.
Ready-to-eat meals are particularly popular among local consumers, with their output value a record NT$29.6 billion last year, up 7.32 percent year-on-year, it said, adding that convenience stores had robust sales of boxed meals, sandwiches and sushi.
Frozen, ready-to-cook meals, such as dumplings, are also popular, with their output value increasing 4.57 percent to NT$28.5 billion last year, the report said, attributing the rise to fast-paced lifestyles and changes to traditional family structures.
The output value of dietary supplements surged 10.79 percent to a record NT$17.8 billion last year, as Taiwan’s aging population boosts demand for health products, it said.
An expanding local market for milk-based drinks and coffee prompted the department to create a category for processed diary products, within which the output value for fresh milk rose 4.84 percent year-on-year to NT$21.7 billion, it said.
The COVID-19 pandemic boosted the output value of processed food, such as ready-to-eat meals, fresh milk, dietary supplements, instant noodles, and pickled and canned foods by 2.94 to 21.35 percent last quarter as local consumers stocked their pantries, the report said.
However, the output value of other processed foods, including processed tea, baked and steamed goods, and vegetable oil, among others, decreased by between 2.73 percent and 34.32 percent amid sluggish tourism and catering activity, it said.
Nevertheless, the nation’s food processing sector rose 2.41 percent year-on-year to NT$112.6 billion last quarter, a record, it added.
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