Food Industry In Taiwan Research Articles

The economic impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the Taiwanese food industry: Empirical evidence using business transaction data

AbstractA rapidly growing literature examines the impacts of COVID‐19 on consumer spending and business operations. However, little is yet known about its effects on the food industry. We contribute to this topic by quantifying the effects of COVID‐19 on the Taiwanese food industry, including food manufacturing, wholesale, retail and service sectors. Using administrative data on the business transactions of food industry firms in Taiwan with a difference‐in‐differences model, we find that COVID‐19 reduced the total sales value of the food industry by 24%. However, the negative effects are unequally distributed among different sectors of the food industry. The negative effect is more pronounced in the food manufacturing sector. We also find a substantial impact in urban areas, high‐income areas and areas with a larger proportion of elderly population. Compared to most of the countries that implemented mandatory lockdowns to cope with COVID‐19, Taiwan maintained good control over the pandemic in 2020. The mobility of Taiwanese residents is much higher than those of other countries with severe infection rates. However, we show that there are still significant economic impacts on the food industry in Taiwan.

Detecting the Crisis of Supply Chain Management on E-Commerce for Sustainability Using Q-Technique

Detecting the crisis of supply chain management is an important subject for the sustainable management of e-commerce. The purpose of this study was to explore the application of Q-technique to the detection of supply chain crises in the imported food industry under the influence of COVID-19. Literature analysis, expert consultation, and Q-technique methods were adopted. We used an expert consultation and questionnaire survey combined with Q-technique using the imported food industry in Taiwan as an example. Fifteen business owners were interviewed to identify priorities for supply chain crises, and 137 questionnaires were collected to determine the strength of each item. By investigating suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, platform operators, online sellers, and logistics operators, this study obtained the priority of supply chain crisis items and the strength of factors for each item. The results show that Q-technique can effectively detect the crisis of cross-border supply chain management, clarifying import food industry e-commerce supply chain crisis items and determining their priority and strength, to help enterprises make emergency decisions regarding supply chain operation, and they can also be used as a reference for enterprises to respond to the crisis.

Driving forces of repurchasing social enterprise products

PurposeThis paper aims to use utilitarian benefits, hedonic benefits and corporate social responsibility to influence the consumer’s sense of brand identity and brand trust in social enterprise products and, thus, favourably affect repurchase intention.Design/methodology/approachThis study dispatched 430 questionnaires in Taiwan. The top six social enterprises in the organic food industry in Taiwan that accounted for 84.0% of total green organic stores and they were selected for field investigation. This study used structural equation modelling.FindingsThe main path indicates that corporate social responsibility has a largely positive effect going through brand identity and brand trust, and then affecting the decision to repurchase. Therefore, the image of` corporate social responsibility was the greatest driving force. The secondary path indicated that utilitarian benefits positively affected brand identity and brand trust, which, in turn, positively affected repurchase intention. Therefore, utilitarian benefits were the secondary driving force of repurchasing social enterprise products.Practical implicationsThis study indicates that social enterprises need to carry out effective corporate social responsibility to create a sense of strong brand trust in consumers’ minds. Empirical results can benefit social marketers for their product launches and promotions. Social enterprises can realize consumer differentiation preferences. With the effective grasp the information of consumer perception, the social marketers can turn passive into active and catch the marketing opportunities by the brand identity and trust to the content of the marketing programs design.Originality/valueThe novelty of this study is to propose an identity-repurchase intention (IRI) model, based on consumer information processing lens and self-congruency theory, to investigate the social enterprise perspective.

The relationship among employee mobility and corporate governance: Evidence from Taiwan's food industry and technology industry

AbstractThis research investigates the relationships among operating environment, corporate governance, and employee mobility in Taiwan's food industry and technology industry. Findings show that both industry concentration and operating environment have a significant relationship with employee mobility, implying that when a firm has a market share advantage, then it should provide a better welfare mechanism. Corporate governance also has an impact on employee mobility. When the shareholding ratios of major shareholders and managers increase, more attention should be paid to the promotion and feedback mechanism of grassroots employees. Thus, corporate governance should be designed to take into account shareholder expectations and employee stability. From the empirical results, we see that the conditions of corporate governance are important factors affecting employee mobility. This study compares the food industry and the technology industry and finds that the relationship between corporate governance and employee mobility runs in opposite directions between the two industries, which means that corporate governance in the technology industry and the food industry exhibits different benefits.

What is the impact of corporate governance on the food industry at different thresholds of internationalization? A review

This research analyzes the dynamic effects of corporate governance, research and development (R&D) innovation, and financial policy on firm business performance under different internationalization threshold structures in Taiwan's food industry during the 2008–2019 period. The results illustrate R&D innovation's negative impact on business performance and the collateralization ratio by directors also has a negative influence. Conversely, the findings reveal that by considering the internationalization threshold effect, at a level of high internationalization, firms have positive influences on R&D innovation, and financial policy has a positive influence on business performance.

Antecedents and consequences of brand ownership: moderating roles of social value orientation and consumer perceived ethicality in Taiwan's food industry

PurposeThis study empirically tests a brand ownership framework based on psychological ownership theory. It examines the role of participative brand development in developing brand ownership among different social value orientation (i.e. proself and prosocial). Furthermore, it examines brand ownership's effects on various food brand supportive behaviours and the moderating role of consumer perceived ethicality.Design/methodology/approachTo understand the participative brand development effect on brand ownership and brand supportive behaviours of organic food and local cultural food from the consumer perspective, primary data collected via 668 valid questionnaires tested the conceptual model using partial least squares structural equation modelling.FindingsParticipative brand development has a significant influence on brand ownership. Moreover, brand ownership is an important factor in affecting brand supportive behaviours. The negative relationship between brand ownership and positive word of mouth for those who have higher consumer perceived ethicality is significant. Moreover, social value orientation, the relationships between participative brand development and brand ownership differ significantly.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, it only focusses on the antecedents of brand ownership among different proself and prosocial groups in Taiwan. However, Taipei, as an important city in Taiwan, is a microcosm of Taiwan's food development. It can reflect the problems existing in Taiwan's current food development process from one side. Second, customer perceived ethicality was moderated into the psychological ownership model to extend it. Future studies may consider sustainable consumer behaviour (White et al., 2019) and other variables to explain the antecedents and consequences of brand ownership on the moderating role. Third, more multi-group analyses may explore the antecedents of brand ownership of more and different groups.Practical implicationsFirst, the participative brand development of proself groups (such as organic food marketers) towards brand ownership should emphasize the health and safety associated benefits of organic foods. If consumers perceive more health and safety benefits from adopting organic foods regarding their well-being needs, they will be more willing to increase their use of organic foods. Second, local cultural food marketers play a significant role in promoting processed foods, creative gourmet, rural leisure and festival events. In the current stage of local cultural food development, the more immediate consequences of pro-environmental behaviours for a given city, region or neighbourhood can make environmental actions and outcomes seem more tangible and relevant (Scannell and Gifford, 2013). Organic and local cultural food marketers should also pay attention to the change in the psychology of different group members and adjust marketing strategies appropriately.Social implicationsConsumers who are convinced that organic foods strongly adhere to the environmental and ethical principles they value may intensify their organic buying behaviour. Drawing on people's attachments to a specific place (Gifford, 2014), festival events can lead to engagement in local cultural products consumption. People may be subject to the opinions of important people, such as family members, relatives and friends. Therefore, communities could advocate for local cultural food via word of mouth and consume local cultural food daily to create a good pro-environmental atmosphere.Originality/valueThis is the first study to investigate the antecedents and consequences of brand ownership and the moderators of these relationships in the context of organic food and local cultural food.

Firm growth, business risk, and corporate social responsibility in Taiwan's food industry

This study applies the multiple-regime panel smooth transition regression (MR-PSTR) estimation to investigate the non-linear dynamic relationship between a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm growth in the food industry under the size threshold, using a panel of 30 Taiwanese food firms during 2007–2017. Our empirical results reveal that firm growth and firm size present a non-linear relationship, and that firm growth is different under the size threshold value and the control variables of firm age, CSR, R&D innovation, and finance policy. Corporate social responsibility helps reduce business risk. Regardless of the type and size, for many food industries, CSR is no longer an arbitrary choice, but an essential requirement.<br />

Firms' profitability from firm-specific factor, environmental turbulence, and macroeconomic: evidence from Taiwan's food industry - A review

After a series of shocking domestic food safety scandals in the past few years, environmental concerns have risen in the eyes of the public. The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationships among firm performance, customer capital, R&D innovation, structural capital, firm asset, environmental turbulence, and the macroeconomy by using the panel data model on Taiwanese food industry firms during 2010–2016 and by examining the results of the multiple regime panel smooth transition regression (MR-PSTR) model. The findings show that environmental turbulence and the misery index have a negative relationship on firms’ performance, while there is a positive relationship between customer capital and firm performance. However, under high environmental turbulence, customer capital and firm performance are negatively related, meaning that a firm’s marketing promotion will be ineffective. This study recommends that the food industry establish a high degree of trust from society and consumers. It is also important for the food industry to establishes a positive attitude towards quality requirements.

Enhancing the effectiveness of AHP for environmental performance assessment of Thailand and Taiwan's food industry.

The concept of green manufacturing is emerging as a means of enhancing a firm's competitiveness through intelligent systems and process improvement to eliminate adverse effects on the environment. However, environmental performance (EPA) is challenging from the decision-making perspective because of difficulty determining and prioritising the proper factors that have significant effect on a firm's EPA. This study was conducted with the objective of enhancing the effectiveness of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to assess EPA by integrating exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factory analysis to validate suitable criteria and sub-criteria. A questionnaire survey was employed as a tool to collect data from 341 managers of Thailand and Taiwan's food industry and the AHP approach used for normalisation, ranking, and simulation of sensitivity analysis. The results obtained indicate that quality policy, quality assurance, and quality control, respectively, are the three most important factors in the measurement of EPA, whereas organisational support in innovativeness is assigned the lowest priority. Based on simulations for sensitivity analysis, the results can be applied to guide managers' decisions in the course of steering their firms towards sustainable manufacturing.

Hirsutane-Type Sesquiterpenes with Inhibitory Activity of Microglial Nitric Oxide Production from the Red Alga-Derived Fungus Chondrostereum sp. NTOU4196.

The marine red alga Pterocladiella capillacea is an economic alga for the food industry in Taiwan, and its associated highly diversified fungi have not been investigated meticulously thus far. The EtOAc extract of the fermented broth of Chondrostereum sp. NTOU4196, a fungal strain isolated from P.capillacea, was found to exhibit significant nitric oxide (NO) production inhibitory activity in lipopolysaccharide-activated murine RAW 264.7 cells at a concentration of 100 μg/mL in the preliminary screening. Therefore, separation of the active principles from the fermented broths was performed, and that has led to the isolation of eight new 5,5,5-tricyclic hirsutane-type sesquiterpenes, namely, chondroterpenes A-H (1-8), together with seven known analogues. They were identified by analyses of spectroscopic data and comparison with literature values. Among the new isolates, chondroterpene A (1) exhibited more significant NO production inhibitory activity in murine BV-2 microglial cells, and of all the isolated compounds, hirsutanol A (9) exerted limited cytotoxic effects and the most potent inhibitory activity on NO production.

The knowledge, attitude, and practice of consumers towards food safety issues: A review of Taiwan

Within the last two decades, the widespread food scandals, global fears of food and foodborne outbreaks highlight consumers’ concerns and authorities’ attention to food safety. Therefore, food safety issue is presently a global health-related concern in community. Many recent food scandals have responded in worries and confusion. Therefore, the study aim of this study is to investigate the consumers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice extent towards food safety issues in Taiwan food industry.

Abstract B71: Does hormone replacement therapy or mammography screening affect breast cancer incidence rates in Taiwan? A nationwide cohort study

Abstract Background: Breast cancer incidence in Taiwan is continuous rising to the leading cancer incidence rate in women according to cancer registry. We hypothesize hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or mammography screening affect the breast cancer incidence. Objectives: 1) To determine whether a similar decline of HRT use and breast incidence occurred in Taiwan. 2) To compare frequency and dose of use HRT with breast cancer incidence. 3) To compare change of mammography rates in different age groups and period of time with breast cancer incidence and mortality. Methods: Breast cancer incidence in most industry countries declines as HRT use drops. This study analyzed national health insurance data from 2000-2008. Women aged above 40 years who was diagnosis postmenopausal or osteopenic were extracted from database for analysis. This research looked at information from prescriptions for HRT, mammography rates and breast cancer incidence and mortality rates. Approximately 82,478 postmenopausal or osteopenic women were included in this analysis. Odd ratios were derived from nested case control estimation to compare with HRT use, total dose and total duration of HRT. Mammography rates in different age groups and different period of year were compared by using national health insurance data. Results: We found that a reduced frequency of use of HRT was reflected in the decrease in dispensed HRT prescriptions after 2002 announced be the Women Health Initiative (WHI) in Taiwan. The largest drop in use of HRT occurred between 2002 and 2003 and continuous drop is noted during our study period. Compared with never users, estrogen and progestin users were with higher risk of breast cancer (OR: 1.58, 95% CI 1.16-2.14, p<0.003) and higher among current users of estrogen only (OR: 1.48, 95% CI 1.13-1.93, p<0.004). The HRT use, total dose of HRT and duration of HRT all showed dose-response effects (OR: 2.42 for HRT use more than 30 times; OR: 3.59 for total use of HRT for more than 3 years; OR: 3.18 for duration of use HRT). They are all statistical significant (p<0.001). Compared with mammography rates with different period of time, the study found that nearly 40% rise in breast cancer rates coincided with the 50% increase in mammography rates between 2000 and 2008. The breast cancer incidence increased following by mammography rates inclined, particular in aged 40 to 59 years group during 2001 to 2005 and 2006 to 2010. Breast cancer incidence rates began to increase dramatically in 2006 to 2010 among women aged 40-49 years. Compared with total mortality to incidence ratio [1-(M/I)] (proxy site-specific cancer survival), the survival ratio increased from 74.7% (2000) to 81.3% (2008). Conclusion: The breast cancer risk was elevated with the use of combined HRT. In Taiwan, breast cancer incidence rates continuous increase among aged 40-59 years, which is likely explained by the promotion of mammography for government breast cancer screening programs from 2003. Mortality to incidence ratio in Taiwan did show some improvement, but still limit. Some argue that the plasticizers - DEHA, DBP, BBP, DEHP, DOP - as estrogen-like substances is the cause which was discovered widely used for food packaging and illegally add into food drink in Taiwan food industry may disturb the endocrine system. Further long-term surveillance studies of time trend and spatial patterns between breast cancer incidence rate and screening rates can help reconcile the potential population-level association of these two factors. Citation Format: Eng-Mei Tsai, Po-Huang Chiang, Yen-Chen Chang. Does hormone replacement therapy or mammography screening affect breast cancer incidence rates in Taiwan? A nationwide cohort study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2012 Oct 16-19; Anaheim, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Prev Res 2012;5(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B71.

Energy conservation status in Taiwanese food industry

The food industry in Taiwan is labor intensive, the cost of raw materials is high, and there is much product diversification. Although this industry is primarily small and medium scale, it is a large user of electricity in Taiwan's manufacturing sector. The concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from manufacturing activities and vehicle emissions has increased remarkably. Energy audits are a basic and direct means by which energy efficiency can be improved, energy consumption reduced, and carbon dioxide emissions inhibited. This work summarizes the energy saving potential of 76 firms and the energy savings implemented by 23 firms as determined by energy audit tracking and from the on-line energy declaration system in Taiwan's food industry. The results of this study can serve as a benchmark for developing a quantified list in terms of potential energy savings and opportunities for improving the efficiency of the food industry.

Marketing mix (7P) and performance assessment of Western fast food industry in Taiwan: An application by associating DEMATEL (Decision making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) and ANP (Analytic Network Process)

To cope with consumer’s behavioral change, the number of fast food has increased year by years, from 260 stores in 1995 to more than 700 stores today, the growth is more than three times. There are even four or five fast food stores in one kilometer, which shows its severe competition state. In such severe competition environment, some fast food stores might stand out but some fast food stores have to withdraw from the market due to bad business operation. When the supplier has to think how to enhance the business operation performance continuously, how to, aiming at core issues, perform the most effective improvement, thus becomes so important. However, in Taiwan’s fast food industry, what is the key successful marketing mix (7P) is the focus to be investigated by this research. Therefore, in this study, through Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and through expert’s view point, the mutual relationship among marketing mix (7P) perspectives in the fast food industry is found out. Then, through Analytic Network Process (ANP), expert’s view of important rankings of marketing mix (7P) in fast food industry is thus investigated so as to perform the most effective improvement. Finally, Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method is used to evaluate the performance of the western chain store fast food industry and to analyze the current status of each fast food industry and to provide suggestions for them. Key words: Fast food, marketing mix, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), Analytic Network Process (ANP), Simple Additive Weighting (SAW).

Measuring the innovation ability of Taiwan's food industry using DEA

The ability of companies to meet consumer expectations depends greatly on their ability to innovate and deliver new products at competitive prices. This research study is designed to determine the key innovation factors of Taiwan's food industry and draws on a questionnaire to collect data about its innovativeness. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) revealed the most and the least innovative products among our sample group. Strategies of how to improve the products’ innovativeness are proposed. Our study contributes to the food industry in Taiwan by determining a set of factors for innovativeness, presenting outstanding examples from the researched industry that can be used as a benchmark by other food companies or as a reference for other industries in other countries. Finally, innovativeness improvement strategies for Taiwan's food industry are proposed, taking company size into consideration.

Attitude toward organic foods among Taiwanese as related to health consciousness, environmental attitudes, and the mediating effects of a healthy lifestyle

PurposeInstead of using general food choice motives, this study adopts more specific attitudes – i.e. health consciousness and environmental attitudes – to predict the consumer's attitude toward organic foods. The main objective of the paper is to test the hypothesis whether health consciousness and environmental attitudes influence the consumer's attitude toward organic foods through an individual's healthy lifestyle.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in Taiwan by means of a national self‐administered consumer questionnaire survey in this study. A series of regression models are used to detect how the mediating role of the healthy lifestyle construct plays in the relationships between the determinant factors (i.e. health consciousness and environmental attitudes) and the consumer's attitude toward organic foods.FindingsThe results are consistent with previous studies, which assert that concern for one's health and for the environment are the two most commonly stated motives for purchasing organic foods, with the former exceeding the latter in importance. In addition, the healthy lifestyle indeed exerts effective mediating effects on the positive relationships between health consciousness and environmental attitudes and the consumer's attitude toward organic foods. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle should be advocated to render the consumer's attitude toward organic foods more positive.Practical implicationsBased on the findings, the selection of advertising messages, social interaction and so forth should revolve around the issues of health consciousness, environmental attitudes, and healthy lifestyle in the future.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to examine the mediating effect of a healthy lifestyle that bears on organic foods. The empirical findings from this study are expected to benefit the continued development of the organic sector in Taiwan's food industry.

Conflict-coordination learning in marketing channel relationships: The distributor view

Although a fairly large body of literature exists on channel conflict management, little research has been done from an interorganizational conflict-learning perspective. This study explores how channel members can use conflict-coordination learning (CCL), as a conflict resolution mechanism, which leads to improved capabilities, which in turn can enhance co-created value in marketing channel relationships from a distributor point of view. Drawing on both a resource-based view of the firm, an absorptive capacity perspective, and an interorganizational learning approach, we propose that conflict values (positive conflict attitudes and avoidance of conflict behaviors) can be viewed as firm resources that directly influence CCL, which in turn can enhance co-created value (joint marketing strategy quality and joint profit performance). To explore these issues, we developed and tested our hypotheses with data from 101 distributors within the food industry in Taiwan. As predicted, we find that positive conflict attitudes are positively related to CCL, and that avoidance of conflict behaviors is negatively related to CCL. Furthermore, the results indicate that joint marketing strategy quality mediates the relationship between CCL and joint profit performance. Specifically, under high positive conflict attitudes, CCL strongly appears related to joint marketing strategy quality.