From cowboystatedaily.com
More Wyoming businesses are finding eager buyers for their products in Asia markets that can’t get enough cowboy culture. That success has the state exploring more ways to bolster Wyoming trade with countries in Asia
Wyoming and southeast Asia aren’t exactly two peas in a pod, but the cowboy culture has a way of bringing together people of disparate backgrounds.
A handful of small Wyoming companies are expanding their businesses to Taiwan and southeast Asia and are experiencing great success there.
“There’s an allure to the West, into Wyoming and that kind of cowboy ethos, which made a pretty good transition for building a new market,” said Sam Clikeman, owner of Big Lost Meadery.
So much so that Gov. Mark Gordon gave them a shoutout during a press conference last week after touring the region.
Gordon said the small to medium nature of these businesses blends well with the Taiwanese economy, which is predominantly made up by these sizes of businesses. “It’s just very exciting to see those kinds of efforts on the small-medium enterprise front that are coming to fruition in Taiwan,” he said.
A big reason behind this success can be credited to the Wyoming - Asia Pacific Trade Office, which was established in Taiwan in 2018 to help promote exchanges in agriculture, technology, tourism and education. Its director Chester Chu has been instrumental in facilitating partnerships with Wyoming brands in his homeland.
“The state of Wyoming has helped initiate us and many other businesses to get that going,” said Powell resident Seaton Smith, CEO and co-founder of LEO Verification Systems, which are manufactured in Taiwan.
Taiwan had been due to be hit with a 32% U.S. import tax until President Donald Trump last month put all his reciprocal tariffs on pause for 90 days.
Taiwan's government said Saturday that it had recently concluded its first round of "substantive" tariff talks with the United States, describing the atmosphere as frank and cordial, Reuters reported. Taiwan has responded to Trump's tariffs by proposing a zero-tariff regime and offering to massively ramp up purchases from and investment in the United States.
Big Lost Meadery
Big Lost Meadery in Gillette is selling its mead in Taiwan and Hong Kong, which Clikeman describes as part of his mission to bring mead to the world, “one step at a time.”
Mead is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey with water and yeast, also sometimes known as "honey wine." An obscure off-branch of alcohol, mead is usually an item limited to at-home settings
Selling this product for the first time, Clikeman described as creating a brand-new market not only in Asia but everywhere.
“Mead is not a well-known or well-consumed product,” he said.
The Taiwan trade office helped Big Lost get into some trade shows out in Taiwan where the company was able to start making connections. Promoting the brand in Taiwan, Clikeman said, is an enjoyable experience as they sometimes get to do cross-promotion with other Wyoming brands trying to make it big there.
“We get to go out there and sell the concept of Wyoming, not just what it is that we do,” he said.
After laying the groundwork for selling their mead out there in 2019, plans to distribute the product in March 2020 fell apart with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clikeman started revisiting the opportunity in 2023 and this time the venture clicked. Now, they’re already looking at expanding further into Asia.
Although it doesn’t make up a significant portion of their revenue now, Clikeman said they expect that to change in the next 6 months-1 year because of a rebrand they just released for the Asian market.
Recently, Big Lost unveiled new labels specifically for its Taiwanese-sold products of its Crazy Woman, Wild Man and Forgotten Philosopher meads to better match the Asian clientele, while still showcasing their product’s Western roots.
“It’s actually a little more Greek but still has the Wyoming ethos behind it,” Clikeman said.
Their Taiwanese product labels are still written in English, which Clikeman said is critical for American goods sold there, in order to differentiate themselves from American brands sold in China.
“Which has a very different connotation,” he said.
Big Lost also just expanded domestically as well, recently opening their second brewery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Backwards Distilling Co. of Casper is also very popular in Taiwan, Gordon said.
