Industry-Government-Academia Collaboration, Hoping Students from National Taitung Junior College Shine at Japan International Bartending Competition

Two students from the Hospitality Management Department of National Taitung Junior College, Tsai Wei-ting and Chen Ding-yuan, will use distinctive local liquors from Taitung to represent Taiwan on March 12 at the 13th "Minister of Internal Affairs" Cup Ryukyu Awamori International Bartending Competition in Japan. To provide students with a stage to showcase themselves, the Taitung County Government not only sponsored a round-trip airline ticket for each participating student, but also invited National Taitung Junior College, Shengguo Mido Co., Ltd. and Quhe Winery and other liquor manufacturers to jointly hold the "Taitung County Participation in the 2017 Japan 13th 'Minister of Internal Affairs' Cup International Bartending Competition - Pre-Competition Press Conference." Magistrate Huang Chien-ting affirmed this model of industry-government-academia collaboration, hoping the contestants would win and return home with honor, and looking forward to the Japan international bartending stage bringing Taitung's "millet wine" and "plum wine" into the spotlight.

This competition has a history of thirteen years since 2003, and every year bartenders from many Asian countries vie to take part. At the end of last year, the Hospitality Management Department of National Taitung Junior College, led by instructor Tsou Hui-fen, took students to the 2016 Taiwan Golden Goblet Cup International Creative Bartending Competition, where they used Taitung's distinctive millet wine as one of the ingredients and won multiple awards, thereby qualifying to take part in the 106th (this) year's Japan "Minister of Internal Affairs" Cup Ryukyu Awamori International Bartending Competition. Once the news came out, it drew great attention from the county government and Taitung liquor producers, who invited National Taitung Junior College and two liquor manufacturers to hold a pre-departure press conference, allowing the participating students to demonstrate their bartending skills.

Magistrate Huang Chien-ting said that this time the county government acted as a go-between to invite two local liquor producers, Shengguo Mido Co., Ltd. and Quhe Winery, to cooperate with the Hospitality Management Department of National Taitung Junior College, and this could be called the best model of industry-government-academia collaboration in Taitung. Besides welcoming the producers' initiative to co-brand and sponsor liquor products, providing them free of charge to the participating students for pre-competition practice and use in the competition, he further thanked Shengguo Mido Co., Ltd. Chairman He Chieh-chen and Quhe Winery Chairman Liao Kun-lang for promising to fund the students' administrative and related expenses for the competition, and even for being willing in the future to offer part-time work opportunities to Hospitality Management Department students at liquor product launches or food exhibitions, where students could apply what they have learned by mixing cocktails on site, which would also help make the exhibitions more watchable and draw visitors' attention.