Market pioneer SunRight Foods leads the way in small packs of grain
In 1973, Liu Qing-tang, now Chairman of SunRight Foods Corp., just retired from the army and served as cooking oil salesman of the Zhong Xing Company. He was assigned to sell cooking oil at some traditional markets.
Soon after doing this job, Liu joined a rosca (also known as a rotating savings and credit association) to get a NT$50,000 loan. With a very great ambition, he decided to use this loan to sell a wide variety of pickles with his young brother and sister at a farmer’s market. But this traditional market closed for renovations. Lack of personal connections caused Liu to get no stalls even after this renovated market restarted operation. Thus, Liu decided to start his own business.
At first, Liu turned into the production of whole grains. His company, SunRight Foods Corp., was founded in 1975 in New Taipei City. At the beginning of his business, Liu had a fact-finding visit to Japan.
This visit enabled him to find that food materials in small packages not only comply with Japanese food hygiene regulations, but also keep reliable quality. More importantly, smaller packs have been hugely popular among Japanese consumers. Therefore, Liu introduced the concept of smaller packaging into Taiwan’s food market in order to change the common practice that Taiwanese used to weigh a bag of whole grains on a scale.
With consumer awareness enhancing, SunRight Foods Corp. has gradually opened up the domestic market for its food materials in small packages. At present, SunRight Foods Corp. has become a leading brand in the small packs of food materials and whole grains around the country.
Meanwhile, the New Taipei-based company launches a full range of products and continues to expand its product lines, including seeds, seed powder, starch, sugar, noodles, sesame oil, beverages, seasonings, tonics, and DIY products.
A number of well-known products range from millet to mung beans, black beans, red beans, pearl barley, all-purpose flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, handmade rock sugar, refined brown sugar, bean thread noodles, Guanmiao noodles, cold pressed sesame oil, longan honey, sago in coconut milk (also known as "Sai Mai Lo" in Cantonese), baking soda, baking powder, yeast, a pack of Chinese herb for Four Herb Tonic Soup, a pack of Chinese herb for Mutton Hotpot, a pack of Chinese herb for Bak Kut Teh (Chinese pork soup dish), a pack of Chinese herb for Wine-Braised Shrimp, a pack of Chinese herb for Ginger Duck with Rice Wine, pancake & waffle mixes, steamed cake powder, and mixed grain toast flour.
In an effort to provide consumers with the most natural and healthy whole grains, Liu created his own brand “Green Farm” to sign contract farming agreements with local farmers around the island.
Farmers under contract must grow crops including a wide variety of non-genetically modified soybeans, mung beans, red beans, and pearl barley. Local growing and buying local food not only encourage more local farmers to grow fresh produce, but also respond to the Taiwanese government’s farmland activation plans and policies of sustainable soil management.
SunRight Foods Corp. has operated for more than four decades since its inception in 1975. Upholding the mission of the “natural, healthy and convenient whole grain expert,” the company sells thousands of product categories. For example, there are 12 types of bean thread noodles.
But given the food safety scandals in China in recent years, Liu decided to end the relationships with Chinese OEM producers. In December 2015, the headquarters of SunRight Foods Corp. was relocated to Nantou City. Liu expanded the production lines of bean thread noodles there to provide full control of food safety.
Taiwantrade ePortal site
