Pineapple exports have so far this year risen more than 12 percent, showing that the industry has cast off reliance on the Chinese market following Beijing’s ban on imports of the fruit from Taiwan last year.
Exports of pineapples totaled 9,805 tonnes in the first three months, up 12.2 percent year-on-year, Council of Agriculture data showed.
This was despite the ban China imposed in March last year on imports of the tropical fruit from Taiwan, citing unspecified pests.
Photo: CNA
Council Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) spoke alongside Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) at a news conference in the city yesterday touting pineapple exports to Japan.
Ceremoniously closing a truck ready to ship nearly 14 tonnes of pineapples overseas, the officials thanked Japanese for their enthusiastic support of Taiwanese agriculture.
Even after China banned imports without warning, Taiwan’s growers found other markets with help from the council and the Agriculture and Food Agency, Huang said.
Although this year has seen a smaller export volume than during the same period last year, the quality is better, meaning that selling prices can be higher, he said.
The council last year acted quickly to promote local consumption and exports of pineapples, as well as the creation of value-added products, ensuring that growers did not feel the effects of China’s ban, the Tainan Agriculture Bureau said in a statement yesterday.
Taiwan last year exported a total of 28,000 tonnes of pineapples, council data showed.
Excluding exports to China, those bound for other markets increased by 533 percent from 2020.
Japan received nearly 18,000 tonnes, up 726 percent.
The council this year is still promoting pineapples to new markets, with the goal of increasing exports to 30,000 tonnes.
The council appears on track to achieve its goal, even without the Chinese market, the bureau said.
Successfully capturing the confidence of Japanese consumers also proves the quality of Taiwanese produce, as Japan imposes strict import quality and safety controls, the bureau added.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
RSS