China's premier beer company, Tsingtao Beer (青島啤酒), is officially entering into competition with indigenous Taiwan Beer (台灣啤酒). Newly-imported supplies of the product have already been distributed to over 30,000 local outlets, including traditional grocery stores and restaurants nationwide.
"Tsingtao Beer will compete heavily with Taiwan Beer and other imported beer in terms of its price, freshness and taste," said Peter Tsai (蔡清富), deputy general manager of the company that distributes Tsingtao Beer in Tawan, Taiwan Tsing Beer Corp (台灣青啤) -- a unit of the Taiwan-based Sanyo Whisbih Group (三洋維士比) that was established in 2000.
Tsai said that Tsingtao Beer is priced closely to Taiwan Beer at NT$46 per bottle and it is sold at somewhere between NT$60 and NT$70 at restaurants, where Taiwan Beer is sold at much the same price.
"Most important of all, Tsingtao will be able to cater to local beer-drinking preference -- this will be one of its advantages," Tsai added. He vowed that the company will expand the beer's sales by supplying to more retailers, including convenience stores, before the peak summer season arrives.
After five-year's preparation, Taiwan Tsing Beer eventually kicked off its sales of Tsingtao Beer in Taiwan on April 17.
Tsai yesterday refused to reveal how many bottles have been sold over the past two weeks.
Tsingtao's entry into the nation's beer market is one of the first by a foreign brewery following termination in January of the alcohol-production monopoly held by the state-controlled Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Board (
The government is cutting tariffs on hundreds of goods and opening its market to foreign competition, including from China, as a result of its entry into the WTO in January.
The TTWB, which produces and distributes Taiwan Beer, said it has firmly secured a market share of 85 percent in Taiwan that no rival could possibly steal away.
"Many retailers estimated that [Tsingtao Beer's] popularity may grow only in its first season in Taiwan, because of initial consumer curiosity," a high-ranking official at the board, who refused to be identified, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The official said that, although Tsingtao Beer is a well-known brand, the beer imported by Taiwan Tsing Beer is actually produced by the Shenzhen brewery in Guangdong Province (Shenzhen is a branch of Tsingtao brewery) and therefore has a different taste.
Pointing out Taiwan Beer's advantages, the official said that locally made beer is cheaper by almost 20 percent and fresher than beer imported from China, which can easily become stale during the delivery period.
"Tsingtao can only compete for the remaining 15 percent market share with other foreign imported beers," the official added.
The board plans to enter the mainland market after it completes its privatization scheme in July, the official said, adding that many Taiwanese businessmen in China want to drink Taiwan Beer.
The board's initial plan is to locate a distributor in China that will help it to expand its market there. It plans to target not only Taiwanese doing business in China, but also residents of China's coastal provinces, whose buying power is growing stronger every day, the official added.
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