In Taiwan, convenience stores are a key channel in packaged food. Joy Chen, of the Events Marketing Section of the Exhibition Department for TAITRA, one of the organizers of the Taipei International Food Expo, shared with Packaging World that a large portion of Taiwanese shoppers’ food and beverage purchases come from c-stores, with fresh foods acquired on a daily basis from the many street markets in Taipei.
According to a 2014 study from Euromonitor, “Packaged Food in Taiwan,” in 2013, c-stores led a significant percentage of retail value sales in a large number of packaged food categories. “Their widespread presence and high density provide an ideal sales and marketing platform for many packaged food players,” said Euromonitor. “In addition, convenience stores such as 7-Eleven and Family Mart are quickly establishing new roles as retailers.”
Lightweight, easy-to-open (and many times to reclose), and extremely portable, flexible packaging especially has grown to serve the on-the-go lifestyle of the Taiwanese. At Food Taipei, hundreds of exhibitors displayed products in flexible packaging that included sachets, pillow-packs, stand-up pouches, vacuum packs, and other formats.
