Recently, Uni-President Group Chairman Lo Chih-hsien publicly stated that the company will focus on a 'lifestyle brand' strategy, with four main pillars: manufacturing + R&D, trade + distribution, retail + experience, and alliances + M&A, aiming to build an Asian distribution and lifestyle platform. This marks the second 50-year growth engine for Uni-President Group. Established over half a century ago, Uni-President Group is not only a leader in the domestic food industry but also a dominant force in Taiwan's consumer market. Unlike the first generation's manufacturing mindset, Chairman Lo has in recent years emphasized 'doing brands, not manufacturing', leading the group's transformation and aggressively targeting the lifestyle industry to get closer to people's daily lives. This transformation is largely driven by the pandemic over the past two years. Lo said bluntly: 'The pandemic has been quite disruptive, even interrupting our pace in building the Asian distribution and lifestyle platform, causing delays in related plans. The inconvenience and even lockdowns have also hindered interaction between Uni-President Group and consumers, especially in the retail sector, which has been a considerable blow to us.' Therefore, Uni-President Group will further integrate all online and offline lifestyle-related retail businesses, extending convenience from street corners to homes and even into consumers' hands, transforming social retail into a lifestyle circle concept. 'We must think outside the box and observe what type of retail consumers actually need.' Having been established for over half a century, Uni-President Group has maintained its longevity through its ability to adapt to changing times. Uni-President's Development History In 1967, Uni-President was established in Taiwan, initially focusing on flour production. In 1972, Uni-President set up four business divisions: Flour, Food, Feed, and Oils. In 1975, Uni-President established a dairy division after taking over the Qiaotou plant of China Dairy Company and entered into technical cooperation with Meiji Dairy. In 1979, Uni-President signed a contract with the American Southern Company to introduce 7-ELEVEN operations (licensed by Japan's 7-Eleven), establishing a convenience store division. In 1987, Uni-President was listed on the stock exchange, and 7-ELEVEN became an independent company, Uni-President Convenience Store Corp. In 1989, Uni-President established a baseball team (Uni-President Lions), and together with Wei Chuan Foods (Wei Chuan Dragons), Mercuries & Associates (Mercuries Tigers), and Brother Hotel (Brother Elephants), founded the Chinese Professional Baseball League (now CPBL). During its startup phase, Uni-President focused on supplying ample flour, oils, instant noodles, and other products to meet market demand and satisfy consumers' need to 'eat enough.' With high efficiency and sufficient supply, Uni-President successfully carved out a market share, laying the foundation for future growth. In 1974, Uni-President entered a development phase, starting with instant noodles and gradually diversifying its product range. At this time, due to Taiwan's rapid economic growth, consumer purchasing power increased, so Uni-President adapted to changing market demands and developed new products to meet consumer needs. It also actively learned and introduced advanced foreign technology and equipment, moving toward high value-added strategies to enhance technical capabilities and product value. During this phase, when consumer demand rose to 'eat well,' the product line expanded to include beverages, dairy, soy sauce, bread, milk powder, and more. Diversification has been Uni-President's long-term direction, but even then, Uni-President saw the huge potential of instant noodles. According to the World Instant Noodles Association, of the 97.7 billion servings of instant noodles consumed worldwide each year, Chinese people alone eat 40.43 billion, ranking first and equaling the total of the next eight countries combined. On average, each Chinese person eats over 20 servings per year, meaning at least two servings per month. Given this favorable environment, instant noodles brought Uni-President great success. Varieties like Chicken Broth Ribs, Man Han Da Can, and Minced Pork Noodles quickly won over Taiwanese students and the public, and in ordinary supermarkets, Uni-President was often the only brand visible in the instant noodle section. After more than a decade of development, Uni-President's business scope covered various food-related products and services, including staple foods like flour and corn, instant foods represented by instant noodles, beverages, and meat processing. From the late 1970s to the present, Uni-President has been Taiwan's largest food company. In the early 1990s, Uni-President began international expansion. In the 1990s, Uni-President expanded beyond Taiwan, investing in factories in mainland China, Indonesia, Thailand, and other places, adhering to the business philosophy of 'Three Goods and One Fairness', which means: good quality, good credit, good service, and fair prices. Uni-President's goal is to become the largest food company, realizing the corporate vision of 'playing a food symphony that everyone always loves.' Currently, Uni-President has developed into a 'super battleship' covering food, grains and oils, distribution, trade, cosmetics, packaging, logistics, and investment. Together with over 5,000 7-ELEVEN stores on street corners, Uni-President Enterprises and Uni-President Convenience Store Corp. form two huge and solid pillars supporting Uni-President Group. From the perspective of Uni-President's globalization, its investment in mainland China was clearly the most important part. Uni-President's Investment and Development in Mainland China Uni-President Group began investing in factories in mainland China in 1992, and in 1998 established Uni-President Enterprises (China) Investment Co., Ltd. in Shanghai to manage the resources and operations of its various investments in mainland China. From the start, it adopted a 'T-shaped' development strategy, choosing coastal and Yangtze River cities for investment and factory locations, and deciding on investments based on each region's economic development, consumer purchasing power, preferences, and relative competitive advantages. After years of effort, Uni-President grew into a comprehensive livelihood industry group in mainland China, focusing on instant noodles, beverages, dairy, pastries, soy sauce, and other products. On December 17, 2007, Uni-President Enterprises successfully listed its subsidiary, Uni-President China Holdings Ltd., on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. From this perspective, Uni-President Group has inherent advantages in its development in mainland China. It recognized the huge market potential in China. Uni-President established its mainland operations headquarters in Shanghai to manage its mainland investments, dividing the market into seven regions: Northeast, North China, East China, Central China, Greater West, South China, and Xinjiang. The product chosen for market entry was instant noodles, for obvious reasons. First, Uni-President was the leading instant noodle brand in Taiwan with mature operational experience. Second, at that time, instant noodles in mainland China already had certain consumption capacity and rapid market growth. So Uni-President's initial goal for instant noodles was to quickly become number one. However, Master Kong's sudden rise caught Uni-President off guard. Master Kong's accurate market positioning and products led to their success, with their braised beef noodles aggressively capturing the national market, reaching a peak market share of 98%, and maintaining their leading position in the domestic instant noodle market ever since. For a long time, surpassing Master Kong in instant noodles became Uni-President's goal, resulting in the current 'twin stars' of Master Kong and Uni-President. Having successfully opened the mainland market, Uni-President's 'ambitions' have always remained, with the 'Asian distribution and lifestyle platform' being a key development strategy for the group. As early as 2019, Uni-President officially took over the acquisition of Korea's Woongjin Foods for $229 million, filling the gap in the Northeast Asian market and accelerating the building of an Asian distribution platform. In December 2019, Uni-President placed Woongjin Foods' popular Sweetory chocolate balls on the shelves of Taiwan's 7-ELEVEN, and in January 2020 quietly introduced them to the mainland market, marking the substantive development stage of Uni-President's Asian distribution platform. In November 2020, Uni-President subscribed to 11,851 private placement shares of Grape King Bio at a total price not exceeding NT$2.015 billion, becoming its largest corporate shareholder. Grape King Bio is a leading health supplement company in Taiwan, with product lines including Chinese herbal care, health regulation, women's beauty, school-age health, and functional beverages. To date, Uni-President Group has formed four major professional business systems: Food Manufacturing, Distribution, Commercial Trade, and Investment. Geographically, Uni-President Group's business covers mainland China, Taiwan, the United States, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Now, as Uni-President Group enters its second 50 years, its pace of investing in the future has never stopped. By accelerating the integration of resources across Asia, it continues to expand its business territory, pursue sustained success, and maintain perpetual progress. Are you 'watching' me?