Green jujubes grown in Kaohsiung are scheduled to hit supermarket shelves in France today as part of the city’s efforts to introduce the fruit to consumers in Europe, the Kaohsiung City Government Agriculture Bureau said yesterday.
Kaohsiung green jujubes are already sold in Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Palau and Singapore, the bureau said.
The city is the largest green jujube producer in Taiwan, with a growing area of 750 hectares that makes up more than 40 percent of the country’s total for jujubes.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung City Government’s Agriculture Bureau
Farms growing the fruit are mainly found in Alian (阿蓮), Dashe (大社), Gangshan (岡山), Tianliao (田寮) and Yanchao (燕巢) districts, the bureau said.
The annual production value of Kaohsiung green jujubes has averaged NT$1 billion (US$35.87 million) in the past few years, the bureau said, adding that it intensified its efforts to boost visibility in the global market after exporting 870,897 tonnes of the fruit last year.
Kaohsiung is selling batches of the Tainung No. 13 green jujube — also known as the “Shirley” (雪麗) — to France through a trader in the Netherlands, the bureau said, describing the Shirley green jujube as having a perfect balance between sweet and sour flavors.
The green jujubes first arrived in the Netherlands by air and were then transported via road to France, it said, adding that the entire delivery process involved advanced cold chain storage so that consumers in France could enjoy fresh green jujubes like those sold in Taiwan.
The bureau worked with the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute under the Council of Agriculture to ensure that the fruit traveled well.
In addition to the Shirley, Kaohsiung has also sold Kaohsiung No. 11 Zhenmi (珍蜜) green jujubes overseas.
The bureau said people in Taiwan can log on to the Best of Kaohsiung e-commerce platform to order green jujubes into next month.
TECH TITAN: Pandemic-era demand for semiconductors turbocharged the nation’s GDP per capita to surpass South Korea’s, but it still remains half that of Singapore Taiwan is set to surpass South Korea this year in terms of wealth for the first time in more than two decades, marking a shift in Asia’s economic ranks made possible by the ascent of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). According to the latest forecasts released on Thursday by the central bank, Taiwan’s GDP is expected to expand 4.55 percent this year, a further upward revision from the 4.45 percent estimate made by the statistics bureau last month. The growth trajectory puts Taiwan on track to exceed South Korea’s GDP per capita — a key measure of living standards — a
READY TO HELP: Should TSMC require assistance, the government would fully cooperate in helping to speed up the establishment of the Chiayi plant, an official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its investment plans in Taiwan are “unchanged” amid speculation that the chipmaker might have suspended construction work on its second chip packaging plant in Chiayi County and plans to move equipment arranged for the plant to the US. The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported earlier yesterday that TSMC had halted the construction of the chip packaging plant, which was scheduled to be completed next year and begin mass production in 2028. TSMC did not directly address whether construction of the plant had halted, but said its investment plans in Taiwan remain “unchanged.” The chipmaker started
MORTGAGE WORRIES: About 34% of respondents to a survey said they would approach multiple lenders to pay for a home, while 29.2% said they would ask family for help New housing projects in Taiwan’s six special municipalities, as well as Hsinchu city and county, are projected to total NT$710.65 billion (US$23.61 billion) in the upcoming fall sales season, a record 30 percent decrease from a year earlier, as tighter mortgage rules prompt developers to pull back, property listing platform 591.com (591新建案) said yesterday. The number of projects has also fallen to 312, a more than 20 percent decrease year-on-year, underscoring weakening sentiment and momentum amid lingering policy and financing headwinds. New Taipei City and Taoyuan bucked the downturn in project value, while Taipei, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung
Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星科技) is expanding notebook computer production in India after partnering with Indian electronics maker Syrma SGS Technology Ltd late last year, as the Taiwanese company seeks to tap into the local market. MSI also plans to manufacture some of its new gaming PCs powered by Nvidia Corp’s RTX 50 graphics cards in India, while adding more advanced and design-focused PCs and notebooks at Syrma’s plant in Chennai, a source told the Taipei Times yesterday on condition of anonymity. MSI’s deployment in India is driven not only by cost advantages, but also by India’s rapidly expanding consumer market and
RSS