Foxconn Health Technology Business group signed a strategic cooperation agreement Tuesday with the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin and Wausau-based Hsu’s Ginseng Enterprises Inc. to grow the Wisconsin’s ginseng industry and Foxconn’s recently established ginseng brand.
Under the agreement, Foxconn’s high-end inspection technology and production capabilities will combine with Hsu’s Ginseng’s experience. The goal is to support the “holistic development of the American ginseng market.”
Hsu’s will also be the main ginseng provider for the Hong Seng brand and will provide Foxconn with technical assistance and industry consultation.
Foxconn is also establishing a joint venture with Chinese private equity firm HOPU Investment Management Company to oversee the development and sales of the Hong Seng brand of ginseng in China. HOPU has more than $12 billion in assets under management and Foxconn says the company’s resources in China will open “a wide network of potential sales channels.”
Along with Foxconn’s plans for an LCD manufacturing campus in Mount Pleasant, ginseng has played a significant role in the company’s presence in the state.
During the initial months of negotiations between Foxconn and state officials, Gov. Scott Walker sent Foxconn chairman Terry Gou a box of wild and cultivated ginseng from the state.
Ginseng industry officials were also part of a Foxconn welcome event at the Milwaukee Art Museum in late July 2017 and signed a memorandum of understanding with Foxconn at the time.
Foxconn says it plans to use its relationships with academic institutions like the UW Carbone Cancer Center to promote the study of ginseng’s health benefits and use in cancer prevention and treatment.
