Whenever there is a Chinese dinner in Taiwan, whether in the most expensive restaurant
or at the humblest streetsied stand, the diners will most likely wash down their food with generous draughts of ice-cold Taiwan Beer. Or, alternatively, with smaller portions of grainy,
warm Shaohsing wine. These are the two most popular drinks produced by the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau (TTWMB), which for half a century has been satisfying the island's thirst for alcoholic beverages and its taste for tobacco products.
The TTWMB came into being when Taiwan was returned to Chinese administration in 1945, after 50 years of Japanese occupation, and celebrated its golden anniversary last year. Its cigarette brands are by far the most popular in Taiwan: Long Life, Triumph, Prosperity Island,
President. Its line of alcoholic beverages has been greatly expanded in recent years to include not only wines and beers but also such foreign spirits as whiskey and brandy.
Splendid Spirits
The TTWMB's claim to fame, however, is indisputably founded on its beers as well as its traditional Chinese wines and spirits. The most traditional of all is probably Shaohsing wine, which was first produced in southern China during the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1386-1644). Made
mainly of glutinous rice, it is matured in earthen jars before being bottled and marketed. Some of the product is aged several years and bottled as Shaohsing V.O. Hua Tiau Wine is very similar to Shaohsing, though considered better in quality, with some wheat added to the
fermenting mixture.
More famous among foreigners, perhaps, is Kao Liang, a clear, fiery spirit distilled from sorghum on the fortress island of Kinmen just off the coast of mainland China. No one who tries Kao Liang can ever forget its burning course down the gullet. Even stronger is a related beverage that mixes wheat with the sorghum and has an alcoholic content of about 66 percent.
With the addition of a bit of sugar and spice, another famous spirit is produced: Mau Tai, the drink with which foreign dignitaries were invariably favored when they visited mainland China in the early years following that area's opening up to the West.
Kao Liang is combined with various other ingredients to make a number of unique liqueurs. One of these, quite strong, is Chu Yeh Ching (Bamboo Leaf Green), an aromatic liqueur containing sugar along with the essence of bamboo leaves and other plants. Seng Yong is a
mellow medicinal drink containing natural plants as well as ginseng and deer antlers. A more traditional drink is the sweet Ng Ka Py, supposedly high in nutrition, made with maltose, cane sugar, and various plants.
Product Development
The TTWMB's Research and Development Institute is constantly working on other products to satisfy changing tastes and to keep up with international trends. One of these trends is toward milder products, both tobacco and alcoholic. Already, light varieties of cigarettes are
on the market, as is Taiwan Beer Lite and Shandy, a beer cooler. One of the newest products is Aroma Kao Liang, an especially fine variety of this standby spirit with an alcoholic content of just 45%.
Visitors to Taiwan will notice the attractive porcelain bottles in which Kao Liang and many of its derivatives are often packaged. These containers are almost art objects in themselves, worthy of taking home and displaying as souvenirs--even if the contents are left untouched. The porcelain bottles are produced at the Kinmen pottery plant; many of them are designed for special commemorative occasions, such as Double Ten National Day, and some are patterned after art treasures in the collection of the National Palace Museum.
In addition to being marketed in Taiwan, the products of the TTWMB are also exported to more than 50 countries and regions throughout the world. The biggest export markets are Japan and the United States, and the most popular exports are Taiwan Beer (some of which is marketed in the U.S. under the China Beer brand) and Shaohsing wine.
Not so long ago the bureau's monopoly status was absolute; it handled all domestic production and marketing of tobacco and alcoholic products. This provided a vital source of income for the government in earlier years; at one time the monopoly provided as much as 8 percent of all government revenues. That figure is now down to just under 3 percent, but the amount is still very substantial. Last year, for example, the bureau turned NT$68 billion (US$2.45 billion at NT$27.5=US$1) over to the government treasury.
Taiwan's market for tobacco and alcoholic products was opened up to international competition 10 years ago, but the monopoly bureau is still doing very well. The beer it produces now has to compete for buyers with 203 imported brands. But Taiwan Beer still accounts for almost 90% of all domestic sales.
Gradual Privatization
This dominant position will undoubtedly change when local production, as well as marketing, is opened up to free competition. And the TTWMB, which now operates as an agency of the Taiwan Provincial Government, will become history.
To start with, reports the TTWMB's secretary general, Martin M.L. Tsai, the bureau's operations will be split into two parts, administration and production. The administrative
function will be turned over to the Ministry of Finance. If everything goes according to plan, the production arm will be corporatized within two years. It will initially operate as a government enterprise but will later be turned over into private hands.
These changes will have obvious disadvantages; with free competition, the production volume of the bureau--or rather, its reincarnation as a corporation--will inevitably decline. But there will be advantages too, Tsai stresses: "As a corporation, we'll have more flexibility; we'll be better able to respond to market changes and to compete in a free-market situation." To cope with the new challenges, the secretary general continues, "We'll strengthen exports, and we'll expand into other products such as foodstuffs and beverages--perhaps in cooperation with foreign companies. We may also go into other related items such as pharmaceuticals and agricultural products."
The challenges, however difficult, will no doubt be overcome and the bureau, in its changed form, will continue supplying the people of Taiwan and the world with products designed to please the Chinese palate. In years to come, diners in Chinese restaurants will still be complementing their food with the matchless taste of Taiwan Beer and Shaohsing wine.