The Penghu area in Taiwan is comprised of an archipelago of islands and is particularly well-known for the freshness and quality of its seafood.
Penghu Uncle (澎湖伯) has taken this to the next level with the creation of a premium sauce range, including products such as scallop sauces and fish roe sauces which are significantly more indulgent that the average soy sauces or oyster sauces commonly used in Asian cuisine.
“The main unique selling point of our sauces lies in the unique flavours that have a very local Taiwanese essence,” Penghu Uncle parent company Kuei Shan International CEO Eric Yang told FoodNavigator-Asia at the recent Food and Hotel Asia (FHA) 2025 show.
“Scallops and fish roe are often correlated with luxury and expensive restaurant dishes, but we have decided to develop these as sauces that can be used in the kitchen either for cooking or direct consumption.
“At the same time, we know that prices tend to be a big concern for consumers when it comes to high-end seafood items like scallops, but we have made sure that our products are not exorbitantly priced so as to ensure all consumers are able to enjoy this affordable indulgence.”
The company’s most expensive product is the fish roe sauce, which is priced at around NT$350 (US$10.63) for a 250g jar.
“We have chosen this competitive route as it is important to us to actually be accessible for consumers,” he added.
“In Taiwan, this is considered a mid-to-high priced product and we sell via premium supermarkets like Eslite locally.
“This will be even more important when it comes to exports, even in our next target market Singapore which is generally a market with higher purchasing power – it is important to be accessible here as we hope that this will be our starting point to enter more international markets from ASEAN to Oceania.”
Snacking first
That said, Penghu Uncle has plans to ease its way into Singapore starting with the other pillar of its business – fish skin snacks, which are much more familiar to local consumers.
“Singapore is a market where fish skin as a snack needs no introduction or education, and these snacks are already one of our specialty seafood items so it makes sense to enter with these first,” he said.
“We have the well-recognised salted egg flavour as well as a wasabi flavour, and overall will be looking at more refreshing and less oily flavours to stand out here.
“Flavours are very, very important when it comes to snacks, and snacks are one of the most important growth segments in the food industry today as many consumers are moving away from main meals to increase snacking.
“There are many more consumption occasions to consider here when it comes to snacks, and we plan to develop this portfolio with many more products and innovations in the future.”
