Where Does This Bite Come From? What the 2026 Kaohsiung Food Show Shows About Food Industry Sustainability

Every day, we make choices about food. A cup of coffee at breakfast, a lunchbox at midday, a gift box for a client, or a plate of refreshments on a conference-room table. These ordinary purchases each connect to a long supply chain.

Where did the ingredients come from? Who grew, harvested, processed and prepared them? How did production affect the land, the water and the ecosystem? And do the people who care for the land and grow our food earn a fair, stable return for their work?

When we start asking where our food comes from, we are also asking what kind of food industry we want to support, and what kind of future.

From October 22 to 25, 2026, DOMI Earth and Jipin Health took part in the Kaohsiung International Food Show, curating our exhibit around the Good Forest Network and one simple question worth sitting with:

“Where does this bite come from?”

Through the exhibit, we wanted to invite food businesses, corporate buyers and consumers to look again at what food is worth, and to explore how sustainability can stop being an extra project and become part of how the food industry runs day to day.

01 | Why we do this: the value of good food goes beyond what we eat

When we talk about good food, we usually think first of nutrition, taste, ingredient quality and food safety. These matter. But follow the story backward, from the table to the processing floor, then to the farm and the soil, and it becomes clear that the value of food does not live only in the finished product.

It also lies in how the food was produced, and what that production did to the environment and to people. As farming faces climate change, soil health, water scarcity and biodiversity loss, the food industry cannot care only about quality once the product is made.

The industry depends on land that can keep producing, and on people who are willing to keep farming and making food.

Likewise, if food supply chains are built around the lowest purchasing cost and do not reflect what producers spend to look after the land and raise quality, a product can meet every standard and the system behind it can still fall short of sustainable.

That is why we want to move the conversation about good food beyond the product itself and toward the whole food value chain.

Good food should be good for the people who eat it, good for the people who produce it, and good for the land that grows it.

Sustainability should not be just another cost

In recent years, the food industry has paid growing attention to ESG, carbon emissions, packaging reduction, food safety and supply chain management. But we believe sustainability in food cannot stop at regulatory compliance, certification labels or a stand-alone charity activity.

The question worth asking is whether a company can re-examine its products, sourcing, production and operations so that environmental and social value become part of business value. For example, when buying raw materials, can a food company look beyond price and quality to how the land is farmed and how farmers are faring?

Can a company turn the money it already spends each year on catering, employee gifts, client gifts and events into longer-term support for land-friendly farming and local producers? None of this asks a company to stop pursuing profit. It asks how everyday business activity can create more meaningful value.

For DOMI Earth, sustainability is not about doing a few good deeds on top of business as usual. It is about going back to the business itself and asking again why we do what we do, who we do it for, and whether we can do it better.

02 | How it works: bringing food from its origin into daily life, and value back to its source

Making sustainability part of the food industry takes more than ideas and messaging. People need to see how food is actually produced, understand the people and land behind it, and have ways of working together that can last. That is the purpose behind the Good Forest Network that DOMI Earth is building.

Starting from the land, reconnecting food and people

The Good Forest Network aims to connect local farming, producers who farm with care, food R&D and processing, corporate demand and consumers, so that people scattered along the supply chain can better understand one another. In this model, a place of origin is more than a source of raw material.

A farmer’s care for the land, the production methods they choose, and the knowledge and experience a place has built up should all count as part of what a food is worth.

At the same time, we want food companies to use R&D, processing, product design and market channels to turn that value into food that more people want to use, can afford, and can fit into daily life.

For instance, when a company decides to buy a food gift box, could that budget do more than buy a product that meets its needs? Could it also support a farmer who works the land with care, a production method that is kinder to the soil, or a local partnership worth growing? This is the model we hope to build, step by step.

From one product to a whole supply chain

At this year’s Kaohsiung Food Show, we used the exhibit to take visitors back to where food begins, and through the stages a product passes between land and table: origin and raw materials, production, processing and food R&D, packaging and distribution, waste reduction, and finally what consumers choose.

Every stage has room to improve, and room to create new value.

For producers, it means fair returns for the effort of caring for the land.

For food businesses, it means rethinking where ingredients come from, how products are designed, and how they work with their supply chain.

For corporate buyers, it means seeing what else a purchasing budget can support beyond the business need it was set aside for.

For consumers, it means knowing more clearly what they are buying, and the people and land behind that choice.

We want sustainability to be more than a promise printed on a package: something people can see and understand, and that builds up through real action.

From planting one maqaw tree to a Mid-Autumn gift with a story

The “Maqaw Circular Impact Gift Box” is one example of what we hope to put into practice.

It starts with a company family day, when employees and their families go to a tribal village and plant maqaw (mountain pepper) trees with their own hands. After the event, local tribal members keep caring for the trees as they grow. When the maqaw is harvested, processed and made into products, the flavors of the tribe become a Mid-Autumn gift from the company to its employees, clients and partners.

The gift box is more than a holiday present. It links corporate participation, care by the tribe, raw material sourcing, product sales and local income. Budgets that were once separate, for the family day, the sustainability program and Mid-Autumn gifts, can also be joined into one partnership that keeps building impact.

Planted by hand, cared for with attention, and finally shared as something good to eat. Impact you can taste and remember.

From a single purchase to an ongoing partnership

At DOMI Earth, we place particular weight on the role companies can play in this supply chain. Every year, companies already spend on food in many ways: office refreshments, meeting catering, employee events, client hospitality, holiday gift boxes, corporate gifts and brand events. That demand exists already.

If part of it can be linked to more land-friendly production, with steady purchasing and lasting partnerships, a company’s routine spending can become a force that supports agriculture and local sustainable development. This is not charity dressed up as a product, and it does not ask companies to add to their budgets unilaterally.

What we want to explore is how genuinely good products, fair commercial transactions and a positive impact on land and people can come together, step by step, within one business model.

For producers, steady market demand and fair terms of trade may mean more than occasional support.

For companies, understanding the supply chain behind a product can build clearer links between purchasing, sustainability, brand and employee engagement.

And for consumers, as more companies bring these responsibilities into everyday operations, environmentally friendly food has a better chance of moving from the special choice of a few into more people’s daily lives.

03 | What we do together: from consumer expectations to a shared responsibility across the food industry

With this exhibit, we wanted people not only to get to know Good Forest, but also to say what they expect.

So we invited consumers to join the “Good Food Action,” to think about what they want food companies to change first, what kind of action would make them truly believe a company is changing, and which part of the supply chain they would be willing to start with themselves.

We wanted to bring consumers’ voices into the conversation about the food industry, rather than leave sustainability as a one-way message from companies to the public.

What we heard

From the replies that visitors chose to share with us, gathered in our post-show review, a few questions stand out that the food industry should take seriously.

One participant wrote:

“I’m willing to support food that is good for the land, but I hope companies can make the prices more reasonable.”

Another reply read:

“Please don’t let conscience become a price premium. Being good to people and good to the land should be the basic responsibility of the food industry.”

These two comments point to an important challenge:

How can caring for the land, fair pay for producers and affordable good food all hold true at the same time?

We often discuss these questions separately. When we talk about sustainable agriculture, we stress production methods and environmental cost. When we talk about food markets, we focus on price and competitiveness. When we talk about consumer choice, we hope people will back good products. But the three are tightly linked.

If the cost of land-friendly production falls on farmers alone over the long run, producers cannot keep going. If every added cost is passed straight to consumers, good food may become a choice for only a few.

And if food companies treat sustainability only as a marketing pitch for premium products, without rethinking sourcing, production and how they operate, real change is still some way off.

It reminds us that sustainability in food cannot simply mean asking consumers to buy better. The whole supply chain has to look for better ways to work, together.

Consumers expect more than polished sustainability promises

In their replies, participants also said they want more transparency about where food comes from and what is in it, fair pay for farmers, and companies that truly change how they source, produce and operate rather than just advertising. Their comments gave us a fresh view of the relationship between consumers and food companies.

Consumers do have the power to choose, but companies also have a responsibility to improve on their own initiative. Food companies in particular affect many people’s health and lives through their products every day, and affect land, agriculture and supply chain workers through their sourcing and production.

That influence need not be used only to drive sales. It can also push the industry forward. Through the Good Forest Network, we hope to help companies and producers who are ready to change find ways to work together.

Not about picking a side, but about finding what works together

Sustainability in food is not something any one party can achieve alone, whether farmers, food brands, corporate buyers or consumers. It takes every role taking part. Food businesses can re-examine how they source, produce and design products, and find the steps they can keep improving.

Companies can start with the purchasing, catering, gifts and employee events they already budget for, and connect that spending to real sustainability action. Consumers can voice what they expect, ask where their food comes from, and support brands that communicate openly and keep improving.

Local producers also need to be seen and understood, and to keep growing within fair partnerships. We believe sustainability in the food industry can go further once these roles stop merely trading with one another and start working through problems together.

From a food show to a longer-lasting relationship

The 2026 Kaohsiung Food Show lasted only four days.

But for DOMI Earth, the meaning of this exhibit lies in more than what was on show. What matters more is that it gave us a chance to help more people look again at the value behind a piece of food, and at the part each of us can play.

The Good Forest Network aims to connect land, producers, the food industry, companies and consumers, and to grow step by step into a network of partners who can keep taking part.

We hope more food companies will start from their ingredients, products and supply chains to think about their own sustainability responsibility. We also hope more companies will re-examine their routine purchasing, so that spending that was going to happen anyway does more than complete a transaction: it supports better ways of producing, and longer-lasting relationships with local communities.

For consumers, we hope good food will not always be seen as expensive and hard to find, but can gradually become an everyday option more people can afford.

A single exhibit will not achieve these goals. But every time someone asks where food comes from, rethinks a purchase or tries a different way of working together, we move a little closer.

Real change is not just getting more people to buy food labeled sustainable. It is making the way we produce good food, and care for land and people, an accepted part of how the food industry works.

That is what DOMI Earth hopes for in building the Good Forest Network, and the conversation we hoped this Kaohsiung Food Show would start.

Next time you pick up a piece of food, it is worth asking one more question:

“Where does this bite come from?”

And to every food company and corporate buyer, we would also like to ask:

“What change could the bite we buy every day bring about?”

About the Good Forest Network | Get involved

The Good Forest Network is built by DOMI Earth with local producers, food businesses and corporate partners. Through sustainable food, procurement partnerships, local experiences and corporate participation, it explores ways of working that serve both business value and environmental and social impact.

If you are a food business interested in land-friendly ingredients, product development or supply chain partnerships; a corporate partner planning sustainable procurement, employee events, corporate gifts or local experiences; or a consumer who cares about the relationship between food and land, we welcome you to stay in touch.

Let the value of good food begin with the land, and return to more people’s daily lives.

Learn more: Good Forest Network website

Corporate partnership inquiries: DOMI Earth official LINE (@xve4765u)

Further reading: media coverage of the 2026 Kaohsiung International Food Show