Taiwan experts test U.S. wheat at Wheat Marketing Center with U.S. grain industry Portland, OR (April 23, 2003) - A Taiwan Hard White Wheat Milling and End Product Evaluation Team is at Wheat Marketing Center, Portland, Oregon, this week to test mill commercial U.S. hard white wheat using the Center's state-of-the-art Miag Pilot Mill. The team's work continues with evaluation of the flour streams and blends they produce, as compared against the Australian Hard White wheat for use in steamed breads and noodles consumed in Taiwan. "A new and exciting facet with the Taiwan team's work is the participation of quality assurance and grain marketing people from ConAgra Foods, and a domestic noodle expert from Golden Pheasant Noodle Company of Seattle," David Shelton, Wheat Marketing Center executive director said. "The hands-on experience, and the face-to-face interaction with key members of Taiwan's food industry allow us to understand better their market's needs and how U.S. Hard White wheat varieties can be successful in that market," Pete Anthan, merchandising manager for ConAgra Foods, noted. The give-and-take provided by the course at the Wheat Marketing Center was evident from a comment made by Dennis Gerwig, plant manager at Golden Pheasant Noodle: "I came to the Wheat Marketing Center to observe first-hand some of the technical aspects of noodle making science. I will be able to apply what I have learned to improve our noodle process and also our product." "In essence, there is a complete circle of business and food production folks together at one time in one place: buyers evaluating U.S. Hard White wheat working alongside leading grain industry quality control and marketing people, and exchanging information and knowledge with a leading domestic noodle manufacturer," Shelton added. The Taiwan team is made up of a major flour mill researcher, wheat buyer, quality control expert, and members of the prestigious China Grain Products Research & Development Institute. "Steamed breads, much like our dumplings, are cooked by steam rather than by boiling. Steamed bread and Chinese-style noodles make up a major portion of wheat consumption in Taiwan -- and are a major portion of Taiwan consumers' diet," Dr. Gary Hou, Technical Manager, Asian Foods Specialist at the WMC, commented. "In addition to assessing the milling and end-use quality of U.S. Hard White wheat this week, the Taiwan team also carries a mission of identifying one or two Hard White varieties that can be exported in relatively large quantity to Taiwan as soon as this year," Hou continued. "Although U.S. wheat still commands a significant dominance with an 89 percent market share, or more than 900,000 metric tons, Australian White wheat market share has nearly doubled during the past year. We are looking to U.S. Hard White wheat to regain and improve our market share, but U.S. Hard White is needed as soon as possible and in sufficient and reliable tonnages," Ronald L.J. Lu, Regional Technical/Marketing Specialist, U.S. Wheat Associates/Taipei said. Tommy Hsu, researcher at a major Taiwan flour mill, emphasized that "Hard White wheat has very good color, an important property for both noodle flour and steamed bread flour, but it needs a higher level of protein/gluten. Blending can accomplish the protein level we need, but to gain economy and simplify production for our products, flour mills in Taiwan are looking now for the Hard White wheat variety which meets protein needs." The course was arranged by U. S. Wheat Associates in collaboration with the Wheat Marketing Center and is part of the Asian Products Collaborative (APC), a joint project of the two organizations. All APC courses are customized to meet the needs of each team and participants will engage in collaborative, hands-on learning to try out different wheat classes, varieties and blends to see how they perform in an array of specific wheat-based products that are unique to each country. Also, participants will learn about wheat purchase specifications and the U. S. wheat marketing system. Communicating across all these cultures and languages presents no problem for the Wheat Marketing Center's experienced multicultural technical staff, who speak Bosnian, Catalan, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Sesotho, Spanish, and Vietnamese. BACK Copyright© 2002-2003 Wheat Marketing Center, Inc., Portland, OR USA