An international business
Hsieh first exhibited his fried “vegetarian tendons” 20-some years ago at the very first Food Taipei trade show. Made from wheat gluten that was soaked in water, dried, and then seasoned with his own blend of spices before being baked, the snack was a hit with tasters at the show. Some of them knew that Hsieh’s family produced pork floss, and asked him whether he planned to make a vegetarian version of floss too. Their inquiries prompted him to begin contacting importers of meat substitutes, from whom he learned that Taiwan imported all of its meat substitutes from Japan at a pricey NT$750 per kilogram.
Around the same time, Hsieh happened to hear about a National Taiwan University professor named Chiang Wenchang who specialized in food extrusion and had studied in Japan. Hsieh visited Chiang and negotiated a technology transfer that enabled Hung Yang to produce its own meat substitute here in Taiwan. The company then sold its product for half the price of Japanese imports, and grew into Taiwan’s biggest maker of vegetarian “meat.”
Hsieh, who studied mechanical engineering and electronics, personally drew up blueprints for the company’s original meat substitute production equipment, and then imported the parts and assembled them in Taiwan. Nowadays, the company’s machines produce batches of meat substitute just 31 seconds after workers pour in the ingredients. To ensure that none of the products are contaminated with non-vegetarian ingredients, Hsieh’s production lines make only meat substitutes.
A year’s hard work enabled Hsieh to propel his company’s meat substitute sales beyond those of its established non-vegetarian products, and encouraged him to switch to an entirely vegetarian product line. He expanded the business further in 1998 by accepting orders from abroad.
Hung Yang’s overseas orders have grown steadily ever since. It began with OEM products, but has since moved into ODM products. Hsieh pulls out a stack of boxes labeled with images of fried shrimp, fried chicken nuggets, and smoked salmon, all manufactured under a client’s brand and exported to UK supermarkets. “The US and European markets go for frozen, seasoned items, while Southeast-Asian markets prefer unflavored vegetarian foods,” says Hsieh. He adds that markets differ even within Europe, with the Germans preferring one mouthfeel and the British another. With that in mind, Hung Yang has its customers do taste tests on each item before going into production.
In 2019, overseas sales accounted for 80% of Hung Yang’s revenues. For example, the products it makes for ODM brand Sophie’s Kitchen are widely distributed through Walmart and other stores in the US and in 90% of Australian supermarkets. Hsieh remarks with satisfaction, “When the world wants vegetarian meat, they come to us.”
Hung Yang Foods uses an integrated production system to manufacture, season and package its vegetarian “meat” products entirely in house.