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.
Seaton Smith, from left, Leo Chen and Kristin Fong of the Wyoming Business Council discuss the gluten testers made for a Powell, Wyoming, company in Taiwan. (Courtesy Photo) 
Powell residents Seaton and Jill Smith started selling their gluten testers late last month, known as LEO Verification Systems, an extremely useful tool for people with celiac disease. They're made in this building in Taiwan. (Courtesy Photo)
Testing For Gluten
Powell residents Seaton and Jill Smith started selling their gluten testers late last month, known as LEO Verification Systems, an extremely useful tool for people with celiac disease. The issue hits home for the Smiths and their son, who all suffer from celiac.
“For those who suffer from allergies, this is an incredible tool,” Gordon said.
They’ve partnered with another Leo in Taiwanese scientist and entrepreneur Leo (Wen-Hao) Chen for the project and manufacture their testers in Taiwan.
They’ve already sold around 15,000 of the disposable units and hired two part-time workers to help staff their warehouse south of Powell. They also recently showcased their products at two gluten-free market shows.
“We’re just having so much fun serving the community,” Seaton Smith said.
The testing process is much like a COVID-19 test. One starts the test by wetting an enclosed swab, applying it to three to five different spots on a food dish, dipping it in a solution, then putting three drops on the tester. The results appear after 3 minutes and show whether the samples worked and have less than 10 parts per million of gluten.
They also offer a phone application where one can take a picture of their food and test results and submit it into an AI model that will confirm the test results. Their future goal is to expand their product to show exactly how much gluten is in a food and offer similar testing for dairy and other allergens.
The Smiths also used to run Gluten Free Oats/GF Harvest, a Powell-based oat company they sold in 2020.
Shoes Too
Laramie resident Sal Coca has developed a sole design, which he has partnered with the Taiwanese company DK Shoes for a lifestyle shoe. Gordon got to try on the shoes when he was in Taiwan, calling them “incredibly comfortable” and a takeoff on the famous Nike Air shoe design.
“It’s exciting to see a Laramie technology company partnering with a Taiwanese shoe manufacturer,” Gordon said.
Coca has been making shoes with his own company Hypo Footwear since 2017, and developed a partnership with DK thanks to help from the Wyoming trade office, he said. Now, he and DK, one of the biggest shoe companies in the country, are working through a five-year collaboration agreement.
They’ve already moved on to their second generation of shoes through the partnership and are working toward releasing a performance model that’s made more for running. Coca is looking to open a design facility in Laramie with the assistance of the University of Wyoming to help with these efforts and hire local freelance designers to help get the product across the finish line.
It’s Coca’s goal for Hypo Footwear to be for Wyoming what Nike is for Oregon, where that company is based.
“We feel like we finally got that shiny new object,” he said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
