Have been staying in Taiwan for almost 2 months long to validate a "Coffee" problem there. In fact, I found it's fascinating that the result is very close or I should say the core problem is even worse than I assumed thru my research.
In the beginning, I only see a great business opportunity to build an online marketplace for coffee beans and their essentials bc of the maturity of coffee culture and drinkers demographic in Taiwan. And their roasters are noticeably lack of online channel development skill. But, in fact, the core problem is much worse than I thought.
To bring awareness of Taiwan Coffee, there has to be differentiation in the competitive market. First off, it would be "Genuine" Taiwan Coffee, from bean growing to roast, to packaging. To doing so, the fundamental problem is needed to settle. It's growing more Quality Taiwan Coffee Beans to fulfill the domestic and international demand.
Straightening out above, we've to look back in why the history of the Formosa coffee has never well extended by their industry, or say their coffee beans has never been known for in the world since harvesting from the year 1624 under the Dutch's colonization. And I think I have a good answer on this visit.
Echo from my last blog.
Apparently, it's an unbalanced demand and supply causing the price high and roasters would not like to adopt and roast the beans. People I spoke with, from Baristas to Roasters, to Customers, have a wrong perception about the Taiwan Coffee Beans. In their stereotype, the Taiwan-grown coffee beans are bitter in taste with poor production due to the constraint of weather, latitude, and landscape. But, all that wasn't the true cause of high price from the years of experience in supply chain management. Most of the technical aspects and limited labor force could be resolved by importing new technology and agricultural methods and hiring foreign workers.
I rather see the problem exists bc of most estates are uncertain abt the market demand and quite a few had been overpromised by the buyers in the past. Confidence matters. Back in a few years ago, there were a few coffee-industry elites devoted their knowledge and time to 'fix' this problem but failed. Why? Greed. Some estates who benefitted from the expertise knowledge were able to import and revise the breed and successfully increase the yield of Taiwan Coffee Beans. However, those states wanted to keep their pocket big and fat by limiting the production for pricing and break their commitment to nurturing the Taiwan Coffee Industry.
Is it an easy fix? To me, not complicated but requires some time and resources. What do all these mean to me at a personal level? I'll present you all more details in the near future. Stay tuned.
At last, I'm very pleased to get knowing dozens of brilliant founders, passionate roasters and skillful baristas. Some of them are even celebrities in the coffee industry. It's a very rewarding trip.
PS. Apologize I didn't frequently update my #Coffeetour. If interested in following where I hopped and what I experienced, pls catch me on IG. Thanks.
