Brand Story

Building Excellence on Three Core Competencies

As Taiwan's largest and most international distributor, Taiwan Hsin Lin Enterprises Co., Ltd. (THL) takes an approach to business that is both simple and yet not so simple. In addition to building momentum for currently represented brands, the company has powered a number of new products to stunning sales growth in recent years by honing its three core competencies of Marketing, Trade Marketing, and Sales Execution.

A woman stands in front of a FamilyMart convenience store with the air of a London scene, snapping a photo or checking in on Facebook while holding a stylish cup in berry red or regal yellow. She sips a lemon-flavored Twinings Four Red Fruits Tea or Earl Grey while reading posts on Facebook and Instagram with messages like "Ooh, jealous!" and "Making me thirsty!" The beverage causing this internet sensation is from TWININGS x Let's Café. And behind the scenes, the key promoter is THL. Over a million cups were sold in just three months after the market launch in early April of 2018.

Relentless Improvement in Marketing, Trade Marketing, and Sales Execution

Twinings Fruit Tea is the dazzling product of more than a year of discussions and back-and-forth among THL, Associated British Foods Plc (Taiwan), and FamilyMart convenience stores. THL CEO Terence Chen candidly admits that the successful partnership between his company and FamilyMart was built on thorough planning in the three core areas of marketing, trade marketing, and sales execution. Particular attention to detail and careful execution further paved the way for the Twinings Fruit Tea wave that is sweeping Taiwan.

The co-branded Let's Café + Twinings teas come in two flavors: Lemon Four Red Fruits Tea and Lemon Earl Grey. Their aromatic berry and Earl Grey flavors are also reflected in the visual design of the cups, featuring a bird attracted by flavorful berries and a woman picking Earl Grey tea leaves in the Himalayas. Special areas were also set up at three benchmark FamilyMart stores for people to take and upload photos and check in on social networking sites.

Apart from creating ambiance, the co-branded Twinings Fruit Teas embody a deep overall attention to detail and flavor. Both teas are served with jelly flavor cubes made with the freshly squeezed juice of eureka lemons from Pingtung, Taiwan, to infuse them with a tart taste and aromatic appeal. With meticulous care taken at every step, the teas have won over consumers and brought the elegance of a well-planned English afternoon tea to a beverage that can be enjoyed on the balcony, on the go, or at a roadside food stall.

"Excellence comes from doing the basic things well," says Chen. He is a firm believer that Marketing, Trade Marketing, and Sales Execution are the three main elements to excellence at THL as well as the keys to the company's continued growth and innovation. As a leader in Taiwan's fast-moving consumer good distribution sector, THL is obsessive in its commitment to continual improvement in each of these core competencies.

Successful Branding with a Professional, High Efficiency Strategy

THL has been the Taiwan agent for S.Pellegrino for many years. In 2017, the company partnered with the Italian brand to bring the 3rd S.Pellegrino Young Chef North-East Asia Regional Final to Taipei. Taiwan chef Zih- Yang Chen won the contest with his signature dish, "The Taste of Taiwan," and will advance to the 2018 Grand Finale in Milan.

To help Zih-Yang Chen prepare for the finals, THL invited André Chiang, the renowned chef at an Asia top-50 restaurant, to mentor Chen. During a pre- contest simulation, Chen honed his skills under Chiang's guidance to bring the "Light of Taiwan" to the international stage.

THL also arranged a meet-and-greet with the finalists from Taiwan to heighten the visibility of the global culinary contest. When Chen rode the "Light of Taiwan" to victory, he also propelled the S.Pellegrino Young Chef competition and S.Pellegrino brand to new heights in Taiwan.

Greater Efficiency through Streamlined Supply Chains

Apart from brand building, THL is constantly looking for ways to improve supply chain efficiency. Terence Chen illustrates this in the case of Taiyen alkaline ion water. When THL became agent for the Taiyen beverage in January 2017, it first looked at the supply chain process and weighed strategies to reduce supply chain costs. The product originally traveled from Taiyen's factory to a distributor warehouse and then continued to FamilyMart's warehouse. THL conceived a plan to eliminate the middle step with subsidies to FamilyMart. The optimized supply chain reduced costs and boosted efficiency. It was also a win for the environment by saving energy.

The combination of optimized supply chain and THL's three core competencies powered sales of Taiyen alkaline ion water higher. Sales rose by 4% during THL's first year as distributor for the brand, increasing from NT$1.17 billion in 2016 to NT$1.22 in 2017. In 2018, the company expects another 4% gain to lift sales to NT$1.27 billion.

A similarly impressive growth story has played out with Haribo. In the three years since THL signed on as distributor for the well-known German brand, Haribo's sales have soared sixfold from about NT$25 million to around NT$150 million!

Diversifying Channels to Expand Market Reach

"With our three core competencies in place, we look next at omnichannels," says Terence Chen. The case of Taiyen alkaline ion water again aptly illustrates this thinking. In just over a year since 2017, the brand has been successfully introduced to 51 prisons in Taiwan. THL has also set sights on expanding the brand to casual stirfry restaurants and other food channels, as well as Taroko Batting Range centers and other outlets.

THL steadily builds diversified channels for brands based on the product's unique features. This process extends beyond traditional retail channels to tap seemingly impossible possibilities. Through its three core competencies, supply chain optimization and other strategies, "THL brings together a number of small things, building step-by-step and paying attention to details. This is how brands are created," says Terence Chen.