"It took me a year or two to solve the problem. But Chinese copycats just stole the idea without having made any of the effort," he said.
While taking legal action against counterfeiters, Chen decided last year to create a new product, a "Magic egg," to stay ahead of his rivals.
"For a small company like us, we just don't have enough capital to file lawsuits against so many counterfeiters. But I know what I can do -- keep developing new products and always move our technology forward," he said.
The new products also have a bean inside, sprout and crack open through an egg, and show similarly sweet messages.
To make it possible, Chen said he first took an egg yolk and put the bean inside as well as the fertilizer, but he soon found the process was too time-consuming and that the budding rate was too low.
He then substituted a calcium-made fake egg and turned to academics for help in increasing the budding rate.
By collaborating with a horticulture professor at National Chiayi University, Shen Rong-shou (沈榮壽), who specializes in seed breeding, Chen solved the low budding rate problem.
This time the new product attracted interest from another Japanese toymaker -- Tomy Co's. Tomy also placed orders with Yu Chyu for Valentine's Day.
"Besides Tomy, we also saw a strong demand in other markets, including Taiwan," said Chen, adding that the company will see revenues double to about NT$80 million this year.
In 2003, Yu Chyu had an output of 100,000 canned plants per month. At the time, the company hired about 20 people.
But the company has now doubled its monthly output to 200,000 cans, and has also increased its manpower to around 100 people.
Since the collaboration with academics proved successful, Chen said he is now working on another new product.
"It is a plant that grows inside the can but needs no watering. The vacuum-sealed can will work like a self-developed life cycle," Chen said.
He declined to talk more about the new products, but they will debut in the spring of next year.
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