Taiwan Millers to See New Wheat Crop and Supply Chain Efficiency in U.S. Visit
Published: July 05, 2012
ARLINGTON, Virginia – Four Taiwan flour milling managers will be in the United States July 15 to 27 to learn more about the new crop of hard red spring (HRS), hard red winter (HRW) and hard white (HW) wheat and observe U.S. wheat quality control standards. U.S Wheat Associates (USW) is sponsoring the trade team with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), state wheat commissions in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and Nebraska and private exporters.
“Flour millers in Taiwan prefer U.S. wheat and buy an average of about 80 percent of their total imports from American farmers,” said USW Country Manager Ronald Lu, who is traveling with the team. “It is still very important for these managers to see for themselves the effort that farmers, wheat breeders and grain handlers take to produce a reliable supply of high-quality wheat for the Taiwan market.”
The millers are all from member companies of the Taiwan Flour Millers Association (TFMA) based in Taipei. TFMA imports wheat on behalf of all 26 Taiwanese flour mills and has been a loyal customer of U.S. wheat producers for many years. On average for the past five years, Taiwan has imported about 33 million bushels (910,000 metric tons) of U.S. wheat each year.
This team will essentially follow the U.S. wheat supply chain backward from the port to university breeding programs. The journey starts in Portland, OR, with visits to Columbia Grain, the Wheat Marketing Center and Federal Grain Inspection Service offices. Hard white wheat is featured in scheduled visits to several breeders, farmers and processors while grain handlers demonstrate the efficiency and quality control that helps make the U.S. the most reliable wheat supplier in the world.
The trip will also help inform a healthy bread promotion in Taiwan that USW is conducting with other U.S. agricultural organizations through the USDA FAS Global Broad-Based Initiative program (See “Building a Whole Wheat Foods Market through Global Broad-Based Initiative Program” below). USW is providing technical assistance and education to Taiwanese millers and bakers to help them produce better-quality, better-tasting whole wheat products.
USW is the industry’s market development organization working in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of U.S. wheat producers.” The activities of USW are made possible by producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and through cost-share funding provided by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. For more information, visit www.uswheat.org or contact your state wheat commission.
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2012 Taiwan Millers Trade Team Members
Shin-Yao Lin
Chief Executive Officer, Top Food Industry Corporation
Top Food operates a flour mill with a capacity of 1,000 metric tons (36,740 bushels) to produce a variety of flour products. Mr. Lin is interested in learning more about purchasing dark northern spring, hard red winter and western white wheat in container shipments.
Hsin-Hong Kuo
General Manager, Hong Ming Enterprise Co., Flour Mill
Hong Ming Enterprise operates a flour mill with a capacity of 850 metric tons (31,229 bushels) per day producing products for bread, cake, cookies/crackers and noodles. Mr. Kuo is interested in learning more about purchasing dark northern spring, hard red winter and western white wheat in container shipments.
Hsin-Ming Peng
Mill Manager and Board Director, Tai-I Flour Mill
Tai-I operates a flour mill with a capacity of 300 metric tons (11,022 bushels) per day to produce a variety of flour products as well as germ, bran and shorts. The company’s barley mill operates at a capacity of 360 metric tons (13,226 bushels) per day to produce pearl barley, high-gluten barley flour, barley flake and fiber. Mr. Peng is looking forward to meeting U.S. wheat and barley suppliers and to learning more about U.S. grain inspection and milling practices.
Ching-Yang Lai
Special Assistant to General Manager, Tung Yang Flour Mill
Tung Yang Flour Mill has a daily capacity to grind 250 metric tons (9,185 bushels) of wheat. Mr. Lai is looking forward to touring wheat farms to learn more about how weather influences U.S. wheat production.
Ronald L. J. Lu
Country Director of U.S. Wheat Associates, USW/Taipei
Mr. Lu earned a master’s degree from the graduate school of Agricultural Chemistry of the National Taiwan University. Mr. Lu joined USW in 1984 as a Technical and Marketing Specialist and became Country Director in 2004 in Taipei.
Building a Whole Wheat Foods Market through Global Broad-Based Initiative Program
Consumers in the Republic of China (Taiwan) are becoming more health-conscious and increasingly recognize that whole and multi-grain products may be more nutritious and taste better than traditional bakery products made primarily from white flour. Recognizing an opportunity to increase bread consumption, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and other FAS cooperators, with excellent support from FAS staff posted in Taiwan, have developed a healthy baked goods and steamed bread promotion as a Global Broad-Based Initiative project under the Market Access Program.
The program brings together USW, the Almond Board of California, the California Raisin Administrative Committee, the Cranberry Marketing Committee and the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council with the Taiwan Bakers Association and the China Grain Products Research & Development Institute (CGPRDI) to produce new lines of bakery products targeted at consumers looking for better nutrition and health value. USW and the other cooperators worked with CGPRDI to develop formulations for more than 15 healthy breads and deliver the information to professional bakers and nutritionists through a series of educational seminars around the country. In 2011, those bakers featured their new products at a news conference co-sponsored by USW and the Taiwan Baking Association at a popular Taipei shopping mall (photos below).
Within the healthy baked goods strategy, USW is also leveraging its expertise and experience with milling and baking whole wheat flours by helping the Taiwan Flour Mills Association and the Taiwan government develop protocols for whole wheat baked goods production and content. These programs are helping increase demand for wheat flour products in a mature market. In addition, the effort helped defend against price discounts for comparable spring wheat offered by the Canadian Wheat Board under its export monopoly.
Over the past five years, U.S. wheat represents about 80 percent of Taiwan’s imports. This includes an average of 20.1 million bushels of hard red spring (HRS), 8.8 million bushels of hard red winter (HRW) and 3.9 million bushels of soft white (SW). Heavy use of HRS reflects a need for strong gluten flour for breads, rolls and frozen dough products in addition to blending with HRW flour to make traditional Chinese flour foods and noodles. SW imports, including western white, help meet growing demand for cake, cookie and pastry flours.
With an estimated annual value of about $280 million, compared to a total spend of about $230,000 for export market development in Taiwan, these programs benefit wheat producers from the Pacific Northwest and the Plains.
U.S. Wheat Exports by Class to Taiwan
1,000 Metric Tons
Crop Year
(June - May) | HRW | HRS | SRW | SW | Durum | HW | Total |
2012/13 | 16 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
2011/12 | 244 | 518 | 5 | 129 | 0 | 2 | 898 |
2010/11 | 115 | 694 | 1 | 109 | 2 | 3 | 922 |
2009/10 | 310 | 419 | 1 | 114 | 0 | 2 | 846 |
2008/09 | 189 | 425 | 11 | 83 | 0 | 9 | 717 |
2007/08 | 312 | 605 | 3 | 102 | 0 | 36 | 1,058 |
2006/07 | 269 | 592 | 9 | 117 | 0 | 19 | 1,007 |
2005/06 | 265 | 522 | 2 | 109 | 0 | 11 | 910 |
2004/05 | 275 | 587 | 0 | 103 | 2 | 6 | 973 |
2003/04 | 309 | 627 | 0 | 108 | 6 | 12 | 1,063 |
| Data current through June 26, 2012 |
| NOTE: The Imports from U.S. by Class table is a summary of all wheat inspected for export by the Federal Grain Inspection Service. |
Nondiscrimination and Alternate Means of Communications
U.S. Wheat Associates prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital or family status, age, disability, political beliefs or sexual orientation. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact U.S. Wheat Associates at 202-463-0999 (TDD/TTY - 800-877-8339, or from outside the U.S.- 605-331-4923). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to Vice President of Finance, U.S. Wheat Associates, 3103 10th Street, North, Arlington, VA 22201, or call 202-463-0999. U.S. Wheat Associates is an equal opportunity provider and employer. |