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Taiwan's Okuma Grows into World's Top-3 Fishing Tackle Brand

2014/06/18 | By Steve Chuang

Following 28 years of development, Taiwan-based Okuma Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd. has emerged as the world's No.3 vendor of branded fishing tackle after Japan's Shimano and Daiwa, mostly thanks to its dedication to OBM (original brand manufacturing) operation.

Established in 1986, Okuma started out by supplying fishing equipment mainly on the OEM (original equipment manufacturing) and ODM (original design manufacturing) basis, and invested in setting up production lines in China to scramble for orders for low-to-middle-end products in 1992.

To differ from Taiwanese peers who had aimlessly established factories in emerging countries merely for cheap land and labor, Okuma later decided to focus on branding to secure more sustainable development, which helped to build the company's current success despite having weathered painstaking journey.

Okuma runs factories and offices in Taiwan, China, the U.S. and Europe, and supplies every year about 3 million units of various spinning reels, trolling reels and casting reels, as well as some 600,000 fishing rods, to more than 60  countries, all under its Okuma brand, ranking as the world's No.3 supplier. Last year, the firm scored consolidated revenue of NT$1.7 billion (US$56.6 million), including NT$496 million (US$18.5 million) earned in Taiwan.

While Okuma has enjoyed increasingly good reputation worldwide, the brand has won  different national awards at home, including the Taiwan Excellence Awards and Rising Star Awards, over the past decade.

To further boost brand recognition among consumers, Okuma opened a tourist factory, costing NT$30 million (US$1 million) to construct last year. The company plans to expand it for NT$70 million (US$2.33 million) in the year ahead to accommodate a museum, thematic restaurant and fishing pond coupled with a coffee shop, a gift shop and other recreational, educational facilities, to create better experience for visitors. (SC)