Pinglin District in New Taipei City, a town with the reputation of Champion Tea. Di Di Shiang is located in the old street in Pinglin. Running this business for 60 years, Wei-Yi Chen is the third-generation operator. Wei-Yi Chen actively developed various new tea products to sell abroad for exhibitions, upgraded the packaging of products, and brought Taiwan tea to the global stage.
Wei-Yi Chen was born in 1991 in a family of tea farmers with a tea plantation covering an area of about 2 hectares. The family founded their brand in 1951. In the early years, the pouchong tea product “Di Di Shiang” was the best sold when they exported tea. Therefore, the family adopted “Di Di Shiang” as the tea brand, becoming the current brand name. In college, Wei-Yi Chen and his father, Yao-Cheng Chen, went to Mainland China to participate in a two-month exhibition. In addition to praising the vibrant atmosphere of the tea industry, they also saw that Taiwan’s tea is well-known domestically and abroad. More importantly, they introduced products to guests and shared each other’s ideas, giving Wei-Yi Chen a great sense of achievement and making him determined to participate in the family business. Wei-Yi Chen has been the operator for five years. Adhering to the brand concept of “Stick to it with your heart and make every drop taste the best,” Wei-Yi Chen won the “Innovative Old Shop” Award from the Department of Commerce of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 2017 and the “Excellent Company” Award in New Taipei City in 2018, leading the old tea company to success.
More than 20 years ago, Di Di Shiang did a creative act by adding tea to nougats, started trail sales on Dihua Street, and unexpectedly made a splash, thus opening the channel of research and development and export of tea processing products. Wei-Yi Chen participated in FOODEX Japan in 2017 for two years, introducing Taiwanese tea to the world, and went to Singapore and other countries to set up stalls for exhibition and sale to expand the market. Di Di Shiang Tea products are exported to Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and other countries, among which raspberry marshmallow biscuits, green tea crisp with pumpkin, black tea cake with date, etc. are the primary export commodities. Di Di Shiang has also developed tea noodles, tea oil, and ice cream in response to youth and women’s markets. Wei-Yi Chen plans to develop more tea processing products, such as tea-flavored cake rolls, etc., to actively increase Taiwan’s tea value.
Wei-Yi Chen said that he was very appreciative that he decided to take over the home business and had the opportunity to contact and deeply understand Taiwan’s tea industry culture and tea cultures all over the world; moreover, he can introduce Taiwan’s tea culture and products to the world. Di Di Shiang attracts foreign tourists to visit Pinglin to taste tea and relative products and experience its culture, becoming one of the most distinctive and representative tea indicators in Pinglin Old Street.
Wen Lee, the Commissioner of Agriculture Department, said that the New Taipei City Government encourages young people to join the agricultural industry. In addition to continuously discovering excellent New Taipei City young farmers, New Taipei City Government also provides resources such as processing product research and development guidance, commodity packaging design, courses and market channels, etc. as relevant programs for young farmers, and hope can develop excellent agricultural products sin New Taipei City and promote the idea of “Local Production and Marketing” to assist local tourism.