Chiayi Coffee Festival opens! From place of production to brand, Garlic Sugar Factory smells delicious for 3 consecutive days

Chiayi Coffee has won numerous awards in various competitions in recent years, and has gradually established the reputation of Alishan's specialty coffee. The Chiayi County Government organized the "2026 Coffee Taste Chiayi Coffee Festival", which will be held for three days starting from this afternoon at the Zhecheng Cultural Park of the Garlic Sugar Factory. The event gathered 30 coffee estates and brands and set up an exotic coffee culture exhibition area to showcase the diverse aspects of coffee.

Chiayi County Mayor Weng Zhangliang came to the scene to affirm the long-term investment of local coffee farmers and craftsmen, allowing Chiayi coffee to blaze its own unique path. Weng Zhangliang said that Chiayi’s coffee planting area is about 200 hectares, which is only one-tenth of the tea planting area. Although the scale is small, local operators take specialty coffee as the development direction, continue to improve cultivation, post-processing and brewing technology, and have won recognition in various coffee competitions, gradually establishing the name of Chiayi coffee.

Weng Zhangliang said that the name of origin is very important to the development of coffee brands. Alishan Coffee has gradually established its own brand awareness. Thanks to the long-term investment of local estates and operators, the county government will continue to promote Chiayi Coffee and let local brands enter the wider international market.

With the theme of "World Flavors Meet in Chiayi", this year's coffee festival connects the five major production areas of Alishan, Meishan, Zhuqi, Fanlu and Zhongpu, and invites six rural regeneration communities to participate. There are coffee manor corridors, coffee cupping, brewing demonstrations by craftsmen, and coffee equipment displays. The coffee culture of eight countries including Turkey, Italy, France, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and Vietnam is also presented, allowing the public to understand the diverse appearance of coffee from different perspectives.

The International Coffee Forum tomorrow will invite Japanese and domestic and foreign coffee professionals to share brewing technology, quality management, flavor evaluation and market trends to promote exchanges in the coffee industry.

Special experiences such as lottery draws, stamp collecting activities and Alishan floating coffee for purchases over NT$250 will be launched on site. People can also take a five-minute train to visit the Garlic Sugar Factory and experience the park’s history, culture and railway features. The event time on the 25th and 26th is from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm. Information can be found on the "Coffee Taste Chiayi" Facebook fan page.