The 2025 Taiwan Food Expo opened grandly at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall on the 1st of August. This year’s theme is “Seafood – Fresh Hospitality”, with over 200 industry representatives from Taiwan and abroad, as well as renowned chefs and hotel operators, gathered at the event. President of the Taiwan Tourism Association, Jian Yuyan, invited travelers from around the world to seize the opportunity to savor Taiwanese cuisine.
The Taiwan Food Expo, from the 1st to the 4th of August, showcases daily from 10 am to 6 pm at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall. The four main exhibition areas “Gold Medal Specialty”, “Explore Taiwanese Flavors”, “Exotic Cuisine”, and “Amazing Artistry” bring together Taiwan’s fresh ingredients, delicious cuisine, top chefs, world-class teas and wines, champion souvenirs, Michelin-recommended delicacies, culinary shows, cooking classes, exotic foods, value accommodation vouchers, and more.
Jian Yuyan mentioned that the Food Expo is highly recommended by Michelin, featuring eleven renowned restaurants offering a variety of dishes from rice cakes and meatballs to hairtail fish porridge and beef noodles, allowing visitors to taste a wide range of delicacies. The Food Expo serves as a “love letter to the world”, with each booth representing a journey to Taiwan’s harbors and mountains, welcoming travelers from near and far to experience the cuisine deeply.
Jian Yuyan emphasized that despite facing challenges, Taiwan’s agriculture and fisheries industry perseveres, urging the public to show support through action. She highlighted that Taiwan’s coffee, whisky, tea, and sauces have won world championships, with this year’s exhibition bringing together top hotels and dining establishments like Regent, Grand Hotel, Green Hotel, Fuzhou, Sushi Haruya, and others offering abundant discounts to the public, inviting everyone to indulge in the experience.
Yeh Chulan, Director of the Taiwan Food Expo Organizing Committee, stated that Taiwan is surrounded by the sea, with a diverse range of fish species, accounting for approximately one-tenth of the global total. The annual output value of the fishing industry is close to a trillion New Taiwan dollars (approximately 33.45 billion U.S. dollars), with the offshore fishing industry ranking among the top three in the world and tuna longline fishing being the global leader.
Yeh Chulan mentioned that this year’s theme of “Seafood – Fresh Hospitality” aims to showcase Taiwan’s abundance of marine resources and world-class fishing industry to travelers, using food to drive tourism. She emphasized that the Food Expo also brings together the characteristic cuisines of diverse ethnic groups, allowing audiences to experience a spectrum of flavors and showcasing Taiwan’s inclusive and open-minded culinary culture.
Minister of Transportation of the Republic of China, Chen Shikai, stated that the Taiwan Food Expo is an important cultural feast, thanking President Lai for attending consecutively for two years and sharing his research on food. In particular, President Lai’s inauguration banquet focused on local ingredients, sparking a nationwide search for the “banquet menu”, proving that food has become an important cultural and tourism resource.
Chen Shikai expressed that everyone has their own unique food map, from oyster vermicelli in Danshui to duck meat in Jinshan, various flavors stringing together travelers’ footsteps, and Taiwan’s culinary perspective has evolved from “eating full” to “eating skillfully”, giving cuisine increased cultural value. Seafood, in particular, is the most familiar taste to islanders, and he hoped that visitors would rediscover the good flavors from their memories during the exhibition, extending this tongue experience into exploring Taiwan’s tourism journey.
President of the Republic of China, Lai Ching-te, stated that each year the Taiwan Food Expo becomes more refined and in-depth, and he specially praised this year’s theme of “Seafood – Fresh Hospitality”: “Fresh” represents seafood, symbolizes freshness, and also signifies innovation; Taiwan’s diverse democracy and ethnic integration have sparked a unique Taiwanese flavor over the years, even Japanese cuisine can showcase Taiwanese characteristics.
Regarding “hospitality”, Lai Ching-te pointed out that this embodies the enthusiasm of Taiwanese hospitality and service. He highlighted the tradition of past presidents serving local dishes at state banquets, where his own inauguration banquet also exclusively used local ingredients. Now even popular local foods have received recognition from Michelin, demonstrating that Taiwanese cuisine meets international standards.
Lai Ching-te emphasized that food is a highlight of Taiwan’s tourism, as dining continues to become more refined, the tourism industry will also continue to upgrade and keep pace with the world. He hoped that through the efforts of the Taiwan Tourism Association and everyone’s collaboration, Taiwan’s tourism industry will continue to develop and improve through the promotion of food. He invited people to actively visit the expo, taste local foods in various regions, and contribute to the flourishing development of Taiwan’s tourism industry.
The opening ceremony today featured the Grammy-winning band “Native” performing a seafood medley “Taiwan Clams” and Southern Aozu flagfish formation “Ding Wan”, using a blend of folk songs and wild flavors to kick off the exhibition. The launch ceremony highlights the theme of fresh flavors, showcasing Taiwan’s maritime cultural memories.
The organizers invited paper sculpture master Hong Xinfu to create three-dimensional paper sculptures of tuna, flying fish, mackerel, cuttlefish, and land crabs, complemented by a backdrop of deep blue seas. VIPs successively placed fish on the backdrop, symbolizing the official start of a four-day journey of fresh flavors, calling on the public to step into the World Trade Center Exhibition Hall and support Taiwanese cuisine together.
After the ceremony, Chen Shikai and other VIPs visited various exhibition halls, admiring the 10 artisans in the “Amazing Artistry” area showcasing fruit and vegetable carving, artistic bread making, sugar and pull sugar artistry, creating a feast for visual and imaginative enjoyment.
The Pingtung Pavilion showcased fresh yellowfin tuna straight from the sea. The Chiayi Pavilion invited Gao Leiya to sing the Tsou tribal song “Hunter’s Song”, recommending delicious barbecue from the Jilai tribe in Alishan paired with champion coffee and millet wine to exhibit the flavors of the mountains and forests. The “Taiwan Good Food Restaurant” organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Economic Development, hosted by Director-General Su Wenling, invited guests to taste dishes from six Michelin-recommended establishments, including Luo’s traditional flavors, The Wharf, Beef Noodle Shop, Boren Hall, Fresh Steamed Shrimp Meatball; HA FOOD Hakka Pavilion, chaired by Commissioner Gu Xiufei, prepared bread paired with tofu milk, perilla, and basil sauce, transmitting the fermented aroma of Hakka villages.
The organizers invited everyone to enjoy a table of seafood, learn a home-cooked dish, bring home a goodie bag, watch a performance, and participate in an experience, relishing Taiwan’s fresh hospitality.