Annual consumption of domestic milk amounted to 210 tonnes last year, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, as it unveiled a “Taiwan milk” label.
The Association of Chain and Franchise Promotion Taiwan held a news conference at the ministry to promote domestically produced milk in collaboration with the food and beverage industry.
Animal Industry Department Director Lee Yi-chien (李宜謙) said the association has been assisting the ministry in business-matching between domestic dairy farms and food service providers.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Annual consumption of domestically produced milk has steadily climbed from about 16kg per person to more than 22kg per person over the past decade, he said.
However, low birthrates and alternative beverage products are posing challenges to the industry, Lee said.
Domestically produced milk has a competitive edge over low-priced imported milk and dairy products, including a far lower carbon footprint and freshness, as it travels across Taiwan within 48 hours, he said.
Although the dairy farming industry was concerned about the impact of zero tariffs on liquid milk imported from New Zealand, the impact has been mild, given that most milk imports from New Zealand are processed, such as cheese and milk powder, instead of liquid milk, Lee said.
Up to 85 percent of domestically produced milk is sold as fresh milk for household consumption, he said.
Although the proportion of domestically produced milk made into processed products remains small at less than 5 percent, the ministry would continue to help develop the dairy processing industry, Lee said, adding that the goal is to reach 10 percent this year.
Association president Wu Yung-chiang (吳永強) said the association organizes exhibitions and competitions to help increase domestic milk products’ visibility through sales channels and among consumers.
Such efforts boosted consumption of domestically produced milk from 30 tonnes to 210 tonnes annually, he said.
The association has helped match 30 food and beverage brands with dairy farmers, with 30 food products made of domestically produced milk being developed and circulated in the market, Wu added.
Asked about an increase in egg prices, Lee said that domestic egg demand usually spikes during winter, and the recent price increase was to align with seasonal demand.
“The egg price is now NT$37.5 per catty — or 600g — which is within reasonable expectations,” he said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS