USGC’s DDGS Promotion Efforts In Taiwan Lead To Increased Sales

Using Market Access Program (MAP) funds, the U.S. Grains Council’s Taiwan office invested in marketing programs throughout 2020 to promote U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and increase overall purchases by Taiwanese buyers. Council programs targeted feed mill nutritionists, hog producers, and dairy cow farmers about the benefits of using DDGS in their animal feeds. These activities included:

• North Asia DDGS Technical Webinar – Organized by the USGC offices in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan to cover two topics: the economic and nutritional value of U.S. DDGS and the 2020/2021 corn and DDGS market outlook. The 150 attendees were purchasers and animal nutritionists, including about 50 Taiwan participants.
• Workshops of DDGS Nutrition – In collaboration with the National Animal Industry Foundation (NAIF) to conduct three in-person workshops in the middle and south of Taiwan between September and November 2020. There were about 60 attendees for each workshop who were feed producers, animal feed nutritionists, hog/poultry/dairy farmers, researchers, local government officers, and representatives of feed ingredient/additives companies. Topics included DDGS producing process, DDGS application in hogs, nutritional management of daily cow by using DDGS, corn, and DDGS market outlooks, Taiwan pork and dairy products market development, and biosecurity and disease prevention for hog and cattle.
• Virtual Grains Exchange – The conference connected global buyers for developing U.S. grains and DDGS market with U.S. industry and exporters. Taiwan had 120 registered attendees who were key stakeholders in ag, food, and livestock industries attend the two-day forum and one-day virtual trade tour. This outreach incorporated a presentation on corn coproduct use in swine, poultry, and aqua and had a virtual tour for Taiwan attendees visiting a corn farm, ethanol plant, and pig farm in Nebraska.
• Local Round Table Meetings – The Council held four roundtable meetings with key industrial leaders of animal feed, livestock, poultry integration, and animal health organizations to provide consultation services on the nutrition, quality, and application of DDGS and promote increased DDGS inclusion rates in their feed products.

The stakeholders participating in these events expressed their appreciation that the Council provided economic and nutritional technical information to help them regain their confidence in incorporating U.S. DDGS into their animals’ rations. It effectively boosted DDGS inclusion rates in diets for all species and increasing sales and imports.

Taiwan is now the 12th largest market for U.S. DDGS. U.S. DDGS exports to Taiwan increased from 231,801 metric tons in MY 2018/2019 to 252,599 metric tons in MY 2019/2020, a nine percent increase. The value of the increased sales of 20,789 metric tons of DDGS is estimated at $4.4 million. The Council used $5,500 in MAP funds for its Taiwanese DDGS marketing program in 2020, generating a return on investment (ROI) of $800 per $1 of MAP invested.