In January 2022, it took less than an hour for an initial 1,200-bottle shipment of Lithuanian rum to sell out from Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp.'s (TTL's) stores, part of a wave of local enthusiasm for things from Lithuanian after China sanctioned Vilnius for allowing the opening of a de facto embassy with the word "Taiwanese" in its name.
TTL's purchasing of the 20,400 bottles of China-banned rum is just one of a flurry of economic and governmental exchanges between Taiwan and Lithuania to have bloomed in response to Beijing's measures, with the two countries forging ties in everything from medical diplomacy to confectionary.
In January, TTL announced that 6,000 bottles of rum produced by Lithuania's MV Group Production AB would be ready for the market before the Lunar New Year holiday after the state-run firm stepped in to rescue a shipment stranded by a Chinese embargo on goods from the Baltic state.
Local distributors have also provided support to Lithuania's oldest beermaker Volfas Engelman, which entered the Taiwan market in mid-2020, after the brewery received notice in October 2021 about the cancellation of orders from China.
In an interview with CNA in early 2022, Volfas Engelman CEO Marius Horbacauskas said that sales were poor when they first came to Taiwan in mid-2020, with only 8,000 liters sold for that year.
By 2021, however, the company's exports to Taiwan had shot up by 23 times, thanks in part to campaigns launched by Taiwan's government to shore up support for the products barred from entering the Chinese market.
Confectionery factory Ruta
Another brand that has seen a huge spike in popularity is Lithuanian confectioner Ruta, which was founded in 1913.
According to the brand's distributor in Taiwan, sales have reached almost NT$10 million (US$337,131), with lines often seen at their first store near the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei.
Thinking back, the distributor, Huang Te-yueh (???) and his wife Chen Yi-ting (???), said they had to explain where Lithuania was to shoppers in the early days of their selling Ruta chocolate in 2018.
The surge of popularity after Lithuania donated vaccines to Taiwan in 2021, however, resulted in such a large sales increase that Ruta decided to release a bar of limited-edition chocolate, with the first batch of 10,000 units selling out in two months in Taiwan, Huang said.
Governmental exchanges
Taiwan's show of support, whether by setting up an office in Vilnius or buying Lithuania's products, is being reciprocated, with Lithuania's Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrine Armonaite telling CNA in March that preparations for a proposed trade office in Taiwan were underway.
With Armonaite's deputy Jovita Neliupšiene currently in Taiwan accompanied by a group of representatives from Lithuania's high-tech sector to boost trade ties, it seems likely that more products from the Baltic state will join the already popular rum, beer, and chocolate on the shelves of Taiwan's stores.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel