A batch of 1,200 bottles of dark rum from Lithuania was fully sold out less than one hour after hitting the shelves of state-run Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTL, 台灣菸酒) yesterday morning, company chairman Ting Yen-che (丁彥哲) said.
Ting said that lines began to form early yesterday morning at 12 of the company’s showrooms across the nation.
Numbers had to be issued to those in line, with a limitation of one bottle per person, he said.
Photo: CNA
Warning: excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health.
After the showrooms opened at 9:30am, the 1,200 bottles were sold out within an hour, he added.
TTL last month announced that 6,000 bottles of Lithuanian rum would be ready for the market before the Lunar New Year. The bottles came from a shipment of 20,400 bottles purchased by the company to prevent the shipment from potentially being blocked by Chinese customs as part of economic sanctions imposed on the Baltic state by Beijing.
However, with the help of cooperating partners, Ting said more than 9,000 bottles became available.
The batch that went on sale yesterday followed a preorder launch event last month with FamilyMart (全家便利商店), one of the nation’s leading convenience store chains, where all 1,800 bottles were reserved within 15 minutes after they became available.
To let more people get their hands on the bottles, Ting said TTL asked bulk buyers if their orders could be delayed until after the Lunar New Year holiday.
The remaining bottles, totaling almost 10,000, would be shipped out after the Lunar New Year holiday to all TTL sales channels to be sold to the public, he said.
Considering the popularity of the rum and the support shown by the public, TTL is considering entering into a long-term partnership with its maker, MV Group Production, with an exchange of product catalogues between the two companies having already taken place.
The exchange served as a first step for both parties to access a choice of products for sale in each other’s market.
In previous statements made by Ting and TTL representatives, the company was notified on Dec. 18 by the Ministry of Finance and Taiwanese Representative to Lithuania Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) that a batch of Lithuanian dark rum scheduled to arrive in China on Dec. 29 could face hurdles with customs there.
China in early December reportedly removed Lithuania from its list of origin countries, virtually blocking any cargo from that country from entering China, TTL said.
The company’s decision to purchase the Lithuanian rum aims to show support for the Baltic nation, which has faced increasing political and economic pressure from Beijing for allowing Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in Vilnius in November with “Taiwanese” in its official name.
Ting had said before that the purchase of Lithuanian rum was the latest effort to enhance bilateral ties between the two nations, which have forged a strong friendship through recent exchanges, including mask and vaccine donations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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