Why isn't the oversupply of cabbage exported? The wrong varieties and the lack of a strategy are the main reasons.
Text by NewsMarket reporters Kong De-lian and Lai Yu-wei
Cabbage, commonly known as gaoli cabbage and celebrated as the "king of vegetables," is planted on a steady 9,000 hectares each year, with an annual output of more than 360,000 tonnes, making it the vegetable with the largest production volume in the country and an indispensable companion for winter hot pot. Yet this enormous output is aimed entirely at the domestic market, and year after year it stages the same cycle: high prices, a rush to plant, oversupply, falling prices. Although the government has declared its intention to actively promote exports, actual export volume slid from 2,500 tonnes five years ago all the way down to 200 tonnes last year. Compared with export mainstays such as edamame and bananas, cabbage has never been listed as an export mainstay. Why is that? NewsMarket has compiled the views of farmers, traders and the government to sort out the difficulties facing cabbage exports.
No strategy: exports only when domestic supply floods
Since there is no technical obstacle and there is also a very large production capacity, why can't cabbage get on the export train? "Right now it is all forced exporting," said Tsai Chun-ying, a technical specialist in the International Division of the Council of Agriculture. She said current cabbage exports are all carried out from the standpoint of "selling off surplus vegetables," which is a very large gap from the marketing methods used for export mainstays such as mangoes.
She explained that exports generally involve selecting a single item; after confirming the quantity, size and season required by the buyer, traders place orders and then contract with willing farmers to grow it. The key is "stable quality and quantity." But cabbage prices in Taiwan often fluctuate sharply with demand, and when prices reach a high point, farmers tend to choose to "take a gamble" rather than accept fixed export orders, so naturally they cannot meet export demand.
A trader who asked not to be named also said he had offered a price of 8-9 yuan per kilogram for cabbage, but farmers were unwilling to accept it, preferring to gamble on a possible high price in the domestic market.
Political circumstances hurt exports; import certificates are no better
In addition, exports are also restricted by political circumstances. Chung Ku-hsi of the Erlun Fruit and Vegetable Production Cooperative, which has been commissioned by the Agriculture and Food Agency to export cabbage, admitted frankly that current cabbage export volumes are not large, with only just over 300 tonnes since the end of December. On top of that, South Korea subsidises 1 US dollar in freight for every 15-kilogram box of cabbage, while Taiwan offers no subsidy, so it simply cannot compete. Regarding South Korea's aggressive subsidy policy, Tsai Chun-ying said Taiwan promised not to subsidise when it entered the WTO, so naturally it cannot compete with South Korea.
Under the New Southbound Policy, there are plans to move into markets such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, but these are also affected by protectionism, and entry is impossible because "import permits" cannot be obtained. Even though trader surveys show that high-end markets in various countries are enthusiastic about Taiwan's high-quality cabbage and have the spending power, they are restricted by permits, and this big pie is "visible but not edible."
Therefore, Tsai Chun-ying stressed that to promote cabbage exports, the current "selling off leftovers" model must be upgraded, relying on "good products" to build brand recognition. She gave an example: for the export of high-priced grouper to Japan, the government and traders together approached local Japanese ingredient suppliers and chefs, first sorting out cooking methods and how to sell it, and grouper sales were then very good. Other items can also be used as a reference.
She also hopes farmers can be patient and not rush to plant whenever prices are high, and that the highest point of vegetable prices be regulated so that market prices and order return to the right track. Only then can the possibility of exports be raised, instead of being stuck in the old export model of pursuing meagre profits.
Farmers: to export, the problem of rush planting at high prices must be solved
Since officials have this realisation, and hard round cabbage is also clearly the main direction of the export market, are farmers willing to give up the gambling game of chasing high cabbage prices and turn to stable exports? Chen Ying-sheng, chairman of the Beidou Cabbage Production Cooperative, said, "To do exports, the existing problem of rush planting at high prices must be solved."
He further explained that if there is a high price to gamble on in the cabbage market, farmers will not give up the possibility of making money, and growing export cabbage also means bearing the risk of not getting orders and not being able to sell, so naturally few people want to try. Returning to the source, farmers' livelihoods should be taken into account, so that the cabbage they grow can be sold domestically, and only the surplus sold abroad. That would be a win-win-win situation.
Hsiao Cheng-hung, who has studied agricultural exports, holds a different view. He believes market segmentation must be created, because quality is determined by price. If cabbage is to be exported, the government must make a global layout, and after there are channels, then do planned production. By combining with channel operators, a stable supply-and-demand chain will be established. At the same time, production still has to return to professional division of labour, relying on professional contract farmers to produce items exclusively for export, and no longer looking longingly at the domestic market. Otherwise it will still follow prices, running wherever prices are high, which is not a long-term plan for running exports.
With export policy still undecided, is it possible for the responsible Agriculture and Food Agency to massively guide farmers to switch to varieties with export advantages, so that farmers can earn stable profits and avoid the risk of big gains and big losses? "It is still very difficult!" responded Su Mao-hsiang, deputy director-general of the Agriculture and Food Agency, because international prices are low and our cabbage is relatively uncompetitive. Therefore cabbage is still mainly aimed at the domestic market at present, but as long as there is overproduction, the Agriculture and Food Agency will encourage farmers' groups to export, and more than 400 tonnes have been exported over the past three weeks.