Its all a matter of quality, not quantity
WHILE Love Taiwan: Taiwanese Pork Festival 2024 ended its run at the BGC Amphitheater in Taguig on Sept. 9, the pork merchants who were present there may be found in Manila stores by the end of this year.
Chung An Hsieh, Southern Branch Team Leader for International Market Research and Marketing for Taiwan’s Commerce Development Research Institute, took us around the festival, modeled after Taiwanese night markets on opening day, Sept. 6, recommending the meatballs (we liked the ones from Hairei) and the cured meats (we liked the ham from Cha I Shan Foods). He said with some pride, “Our meatball is very solid.”
According to Mr. Hsieh, Taiwan only began exporting pork to the Philippines last year, with around 400 tons of meat. Their other big customer is Japan, with 90% of their pork exports going to that nation. Through an interpreter, he said that they follow strict importation of pigs from other countries, which is how they avoid agricultural diseases like foot-and-mouth disease and African Swine Fever (ASF). “The Taiwanese government is very strict towards this industry,” he said. “That’s why they are required to produce a very high-quality pig.”
As for its culinary qualities, he said, “The taste of the Taiwan pork is aromatic, juicy, sweet.
“No bad odor,” he added. “That’s the difference.” He said that their pork can be dipped into boiling water and eaten directly. The reason for this is, “They have the best technology (for rearing pigs in Taiwan. It keeps on innovating to improve the industry,” he said through an interpreter. “They put very big importance to the welfare of the pig. They let the pig eat very clean and healthy food as well.”
There were 12 merchants in all, including Pure Food Asia, Taiwan Farm Industry Co., Wayfong Food, Jin Tian Foods, and Food Lee. Mr. Hsieh expressed that some of them already have representation in the Philippine market, while some “are in coordination with the marketplace, hoping that by the end of the year they will (have) a big shipment to the Philippines.”
The thing is though, for Taiwanese pork, what they’re hoping to do is increase the quality, and not quantity of pork arriving to the Philippines. “They didn’t put importance in the volume, but in the quality,” he said through an interpreter. “They are not after selling a lot. They’re after selling it in the right quality market.”
To conclude the festival on Sept. 9, Discovery Primea’s executive chef Luis Chikiamco and guest chef Carlo Miguel indulged guests at Flame restaurant with a multi-course meal focusing on the many interpretations of pork. Mr. Hsieh said that they were targeting and cooperating with chefs from five-star hotels and restaurants. “They are looking for people who are really looking for a quality product,” he said. — Joseph L. Garcia
