From a single tea leaf, a cup of bubble tea and a bowl of douhua to the lights of the night market — sail six stops along Taiwan's coast to meet its flavors and people, and see how a Taiwanese food company carries them to the world.
Along Taiwan's coastline — setting off from the tea hills and finally sailing from the harbor to the world.
Brand Philosophy
Tang Sugar Brand Philosophy: Taiwanese Food and Taiwanese Service, Bringing the Flavors of Taiwan to the World
From the Formosa Oolong that sailed to New York in 1869 to bubble tea loved around the globe, Taiwan has long been sending great flavors to the world. Tang Sugar (Caitang International) is a Taiwanese company proud of the food Taiwanese people make and the service they provide. With consistent ingredient quality, clear partnership terms and verifiable supply capability, we…
It introduces Taiwan's tea, bubble tea, night-market food, fruit and sugar, everyday life and Made in Taiwan, and shows how Tang Sugar brings these flavors and Taiwanese service to partners around the world.
How is Taiwan Stories different from the blog?
Taiwan Stories covers culture, origins and Taiwan through foreign eyes; the blog covers drink recipes, ingredient dosage and sourcing. The two link to each other, so you can go from a story to a recipe.
Taiwan’s Ports: How Goods Reach the World — Kaohsiung, Keelung, Taichung and Taipei, with Kaohsiung Handling 9.228 Million TEU in 2024
Key answer
Taiwan’s main international commercial ports are Kaohsiung, Keelung, Taichung and Taipei, along with Hualien, Su’ao and Anping. Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s largest container port: Taiwan International Ports Corporation reported that it handled 9.228 million TEU in 2024, with about 8.8 million TEU estimated for 2025, and it ranked ninth in DNV’s 2025 global container port assessment (which also scores service quality, digitalization and sustainability). The Keelung branch’s three ports — Keelung, Taipei and Su’ao — handled more than 3.06 million TEU combined in 2025, and Taiwan’s ports about 13.51 million TEU in total. Tang Sugar uses consolidated shipping and export document services to help Taiwanese food set out from these ports.
A trading island surrounded by sea
Taiwan sits at the midpoint of East Asia’s shipping lanes, with easy routes north to Japan and Korea, south to Southeast Asia and east to the Americas. After its ports opened in 1860, Taiwanese tea sailed to the world from Tamsui and Takao (Kaohsiung); today, Taiwan’s electronics, food and bubble tea ingredients are loaded into containers at its ports and shipped worldwide (further reading: Taiwan’s exports and international trade, where the name Formosa comes from).
Taiwan’s main ports
Port
Location
Highlights
Port of Kaohsiung
South
Taiwan’s largest container port: 9.228 million TEU in 2024, ninth in DNV’s 2025 assessment
Port of Keelung
North
The historic northern gateway, with a cruise terminal
Port of Taipei
Bali, New Taipei
A newer, cargo-focused port whose volume now exceeds Keelung’s
Port of Taichung
Central
Serves central Taiwan’s industries and bulk cargo
Su’ao and Hualien
East
Eastern cargo, including aggregates and cement
Taiwan International Ports Corporation reported that its ports handled about 13.51 million TEU in 2025, down 3% from the year before. A TEU is a twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measure of container volume.
How does a box of bubble tea ingredients go to sea?
Preparing and packing: The factory produces, labels and cartons the goods to order.
LCL or FCL: Small quantities share a container with other cargo (less than container load); large quantities fill a whole container (full container load).
Taiwan’s ports connect it to the world and let Taiwanese food reach every overseas partner reliably. Caitang International Co., Ltd. (brand name Tang Sugar) is proud of Taiwan’s trading strength and offers:
