The Council of Agriculture held the Result Announcement of the Evaluation of the Best Liquor-Brewing Farms and Liquors in 2007 Together With the Exhibition of Creative Packaging at the venue of National Concert Hall on December 4 and the event was heralded by Minister Su’s bestowing awards to honor quality liquor-brewing farms. A recreational liquor-brewing farm in Tahu area, Miaoli, was evaluated to be on Excellent Grade for this year; while Hsinyi farmers’ organization liquor-brewing store, Nantou County, Puli farmers’ organization liquor-brewing store, Cheing liquor-brewing store, Yushan liquor-brewing store and Shushang liquor-brewing store and Shu-wei-chiang liquor-brewing store, Taichung County, were all evaluated to be on Good Grade. At the same time, in the midst of a tense atmosphere, Minister Su disclosed one by one 18 types of quality liquors, which had won gold, silver and bronze plaques in 2007 Best Farming-Village Brewed Liquors. The prize of Golden-Plaque Liquor standing for the supreme honor for best liquor-brewing industry went to Passionate Rose brewed with local edible roses by Puli farmers’ organizations, Nantou, and Abandon 50% brewed with indigenous plums by Hsinyi farmers’ organization liquor-brewing store.

Minister Su indicated that, in order to assist liquor-brewing farms in marketing quality liquors, COA has borrowed the creative cultural marketing concepts from National Cultural Association and commissioned the design teams from National Taiwan Normal University and Shih Chien University to design 8 types of wine container packaging, which is a combination of the indigenous culture of the liquor-brewing farms and the international trend, exclusively for the eight quality liquor-brewing farms reviewed and approved by COA for 2006, in the hope of being able to help market the best liquor-brewing farms and liquors islandwide, or even worldwide.

Minister Su pointed out that, in order to take aggressive actions to guide farming villages to transform themselves and increase the value of agricultural produce, it has made the liquor-brewing business open to the private sector in keeping with the regulations of tobacco and liquors prescribed by Ministry of Finance. It has also established counseling teams in liquor-brewing farms in 2002 to help develop liquor-brewing business in the farming villages and reaped an abundant harvest after six years of hard work. The best liquor-brewing farms and stores reviewed and approved by COA for this year combined recreational sight-seeing business and tourism and succeeded in producing liquors which used agricultural produce peculiar to Taiwan and the ingredients grown by local farmers by contracts as their materials. Liquors thus produced are of the highest quality and worthy of a visit, sharing and recommendation.