Taiwan Tea Corporation
Taiwan Tea Corporation is a century-old Taiwanese tea producer and listed company, founded in 1899 and descended from a Japanese colonial-era Mitsui tea enterprise.
Last updated September 29, 2026
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Overview
Taiwan Tea Corporation (台灣農林股份有限公司, often shortened to 農林) is a Taiwanese listed company whose roots go back to 1899, when its predecessor — described on its own website as the Japanese Mitsui Gomei Kaisha / Mitsui Bussan — began developing tea estates in Taiwan. It is one of the oldest continuously operating tea businesses on the island and today combines tea cultivation and processing with land development and leisure-farm operations. Its headquarters are in Hukou Township, Hsinchu County, and it is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company presents itself as Taiwan's only well-known listed tea company that owns both its own tea gardens and its own tea factories, running an integrated operation from cultivation through direct sales. Its estates are farmed mainly with organic and natural methods, and it states that its teas contain no artificial additives, are batch-tested, and pass SGS inspection, while its refining plant holds ISO 22000 and HACCP certification. Its Pingtung Laopi Farm is used to develop low-altitude tea cultivation, new varieties, modern irrigation, mechanized tending and harvesting, and automated processing. Historically, the enterprise was central to the rise of Taiwanese tea: its northern Taiwan black tea gardens produced the globally known "Nittō Kōcha" (日東紅茶) in the 1920s, and in the 1930s Sun Moon Lake black tea, marketed as "Taiwan Fragrance," ranked among four great black teas at London auctions. In its 1940s heyday it operated eight major tea estates. After the postwar land reforms and the golden era of Taiwanese tea in the 1950s, the company gradually diversified. Since the 2000s it has moved into leisure and tourism. It established an organic tea seedling trial area in 2003, becoming Taiwan's first organically certified Assam tea garden, and from 2008 began operating the Sun Moon Lake Old Tea Factory and Xiongkong Tea Garden as visitor sites. Later additions include the Daliao Tea Culture Museum (2013, now closed), the Tongluo Tea Factory, the restored Daxi Old Tea Factory (2014, recognized as a tourist factory in 2015), and the Lukao leisure coffee garden. In 2019 San Yang Industry Group's Wu Ching-yuan became chairman. The company also runs online shopping and wholesale tea supply for commercial use.
History
Taiwan Tea Corporation traces its origin to 1899, when its predecessor — identified on the company's website as the Japanese Mitsui Gomei Kaisha (in another page, Mitsui Bussan Kaisha) — began tea operations in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period. The enterprise quickly became prominent in the island's tea industry. In the 1920s, black tea gardens spread across northern Taiwan and produced "Nittō Kōcha" (日東紅茶), a tea that gained international renown and helped establish the standing of Taiwanese tea. In the 1930s, Sun Moon Lake black tea, marketed under the name "Taiwan Fragrance" (台灣香), was listed among four great black teas at London auctions, attracting Western admirers. By the 1940s, at its peak, the company operated eight major tea estates, with the image of tea-picking women among the green gardens becoming an enduring rural scene. The 1950s, under land reform, brought a golden age for Taiwanese tea, celebrated in the saying "sugar in the south, tea in the north" (南糖北茶). The following decades saw tea woven into everyday Taiwanese life — free tea offered under banyan trees in the 1960s, the family teapot of the 1970s, amber tea served in glasses on Taiwan Railways trains in the 1980s, and the bubble tea boom of the 1990s. Throughout, the company's teas accompanied Taiwanese memories. In 2003 the company established an organic tea seedling trial area, becoming Taiwan's first organically certified Assam tea garden. It then began a planned, year-by-year revival of its own tea gardens in northern, central, and southern Taiwan using natural farming methods. In 2008 it began operating its own Sun Moon Lake Old Tea Factory and Xiongkong Tea Garden, gradually transforming its factories into combined leisure businesses. Food safety became a priority, with production subject to ISO 22000, HACCP, traceability, and batch-by-batch testing. As demand for leisure and LOHAS destinations grew, the company expanded its tourism side. In 2013 the Daliao Tea Culture Museum opened (it is now closed); it was New Taipei City's first tea-industry culture museum. The Tongluo Tea Factory, where visitors can try DIY tea-making, was also completed. In 2014 the Daxi Old Tea Factory reopened after three years of restoration, themed around lifestyle aesthetics and tea education; in 2015 it received Ministry of Economic Affairs tourist-factory certification and the Far Eastern Architecture "old house renovation" first prize. In 2015 the company began building the Lukao leisure coffee garden, expected to open in mid-2019. In 2014 it began tending and planning capacity for Laopi Farm, introducing advanced foreign systems to lead a new generation of tea production with technology, ecology, and food-safety elements. In 2019, Wu Ching-yuan of the San Yang Industry Group became chairman. The company continues to operate as a listed firm headquartered in Hukou Township, Hsinchu County, with business spanning tea, land development, and leisure farms.
- 2024
Lukao Coffee Estate wins top prize at the 2024 Sun Moon Lake specialty coffee evaluation
- 2022
Laopi Farm receives Rainforest Alliance certification
- 2019
Wu Ching-yuan of San Yang Industry Group becomes chairman
- 2015
Daxi Old Tea Factory receives tourist-factory certification and Far Eastern Architecture old-house renovation first prize; Lukao leisure coffee garden construction begins
- 2014
Daxi Old Tea Factory reopens after three years of restoration; Laopi Farm tending and capacity planning begin
- 2013
Daliao Tea Culture Museum opens (now closed); Tongluo Tea Factory completed
- 2008
Begins operating Sun Moon Lake Old Tea Factory and Xiongkong Tea Garden
- 2003
Establishes organic tea seedling trial area, becoming Taiwan's first organically certified Assam tea garden
- 1950
Golden age of Taiwanese tea under land reform, known as 'sugar in the south, tea in the north'
- 1940
Peak era with eight major tea estates
Products and positioning
Taiwan's century-old, integrated tea producer and listed company combining own tea gardens, own factories, organic/natural farming, food-safety certification, and tea-tourism leisure sites.
Sun Moon Lake black tea
Nittō Kōcha (heritage black tea)
Organic tea
Tea bags
Commercial/bulk tea supply
Lukao coffee
Sources6 sources
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