Want Want Holdings Limited is a food manufacturer from Taiwan. It is the largest rice cake and flavored drinks maker in Taiwan. It engages in the manufacturing and trading of snack foods and beverages. It operates over 100 manufacturing plants in mainland China and 2 in Taiwan, and employs over 60,000 people.
History
In 1962, Want Want began operations in the name of I Lan Foods Industrial Company Limited in Yilan County, Taiwan, which manufactured cannedagricultural products. It was founded by Tsai Eng-meng's father, Jonathan Shuai Qiang Ng. In 1983, it collaborated with Iwatsuka Confectionery Company Limited, one of the top three Japanese rice cracker makers, to develop a rice cracker market in Taiwan. In return, Iwatsuka obtained 5% of the common stock of the company. In 2009, Iwatsuka's share in Want Want was valued at about, nearly three times as much as Iwatsuka's own market value of. In 1987, it became the first Taiwanese operator to apply for the registration of the "Want Want" trademark in China. In 1992, it started its business in Mainland China. In 1994, it commenced its first production plant in Changsha, Hunan. In 1996, it was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange under the name Want Want Holdings Pte Ltd. In 2007, Want Want Holdings Pte Ltd was delisted from the Singapore Stock Exchange. In 2008, its subsidiary, Want Want China Holdings Limited, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On 24 January 2019, Want Want announced its plans to open its first-ever flagship store in Singapore on Ayer Rajah Crescent. Want Want has faced repeated accusations of overly close links to the Chinese Communist Party, and the Financial Times reported that these ties include coordination with the Chinese government's Taiwan Affairs Office.
Many Want Want products are well known in China for their bizarre advertisements. Ads often depict the life of a Chinese boy wanting to buy Want Want products. The logo for Want Want was created after Tsai Eng Meng's son starred in one of these advertisements. In November 2019 William Wang, a Chinese spy who defected to Australia, claimed that the Want Want China Times Group news channels CTV and CTi-TV had received Chinese funding in return for airing stories unfavorable of the Taiwanese government and sought to influence the upcoming 2020 election. The Want Want China Times Group denied these allegations.
