Taiwan’s I-Mei Foods plans environmental campaign to mark 88th anniversary

台灣義美食品88週年推動環保活動

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – In order to mark its 88th anniversary, leading Taiwan food producer I-Mei Foods Co. will present a series of environmentally themed promotional activities.

A precursor of the company was founded as a traditional cake store on March 30, 1934 by Kao Fan-wang and his wife, Kao Chen Hsiu-ying. Their son, T.C. Kao, transformed the store into a food company and set it on the road to become a major business enterprise.

However, less known is the fact that there was even an earlier “I-Mei,” a dyed cloth shop in Taipei City’s Datong District, founded in the spring of 1871 by Kao Chih-kuei, the great-grandfather of I-Mei’s current CEO, Luis Ko.

As such, “I-Mei” is one of Taiwan’s rare native brands to have been in existence for more than 100 years.

On Jan. 1, 2022, I-Mei CEO Luis Ko announced the company would respond to the global call to fight climate change by fully respecting the plan to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and to zero by 2050, thus joining the campaign to save Earth.

During 2022, I-Mei will launch a series of promotional activities related to the protection of the environment. Some of the events will take place for Earth Day on April 22, World Ocean Day on June 8, and Taiwan Culture Day on Oct. 17.

I-Mei has been selected seven years in a row as Taiwan’s most valuable consumer brand by Kantar Group, the London-based data analytics and brand consulting company. A total of 89.6% of families in Taiwan have bought I-Mei products.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company gifted its puff cakes in special packaging to Slovakia and Lithuania as a sign of gratitude for their donations of vaccines.

CEO Luis Ko has said that I-Mei has become inextricably linked to Taiwan, and will in the future continue to contribute to society. If the country and society have the need, I-Mei will be ready and willing to stand up and offer its influence.