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Chuchien cantaloupes to fetch whopping NT$2,000

Wang Chi-sung of the Hsinchu City Farmers' Association holds a hothouse hydroponic melons yesterday that will sell for a record price of NT$2,000 apiece. Despite their high price, the association has already received orders for the melons. PHOTO: CHEN WEI-JEN, TAIPEI TIMES

Paying NT$2,000 for a cantaloupe?

No, it's not the Tokyo street price -- it's what you pay for a Chuchien cantaloupe in Hsinchu.

The best of Hsinchu City Farmers' Association's hothouse hydroponic melons -- melons grown in a nutrient solution with or without an inert medium to provide mechanical support -- this year will sell for NT$2,000 apiece, probably a new record for melons in Taiwan.

Despite that, orders have already been placed by association's regular customers.

Wang Chi-sung (王淇松) who is in charge of distribution and marketing says the same kind of melon of the same quality can fetch ?10,000 (US$87) or more in Japan.

When imported by upscale Taiwanese supermarkets, the price will be around NT$1,000 per taijin, or 600g, Wang said.

"It's obvious that Taiwan's consumer power is not inferior to Japan's," Wang said.

Wang says the association bought 600 seedlings from Japan in August, each one of which has been individually cared for.

The fruits already weigh about 600g and will be ready to harvest by late this month.

It has already been decided that any fruit weighing more than 1.2kg will be priced at NT$2,000.

Since the supply of Chuchien -- an old name for Hsinchu -- melon is limited, preordering is required.

Melons are only sold on the stalk, which means that they cannot be bought in local markets.

Customers are company owners and the new rich in the information technology and high-tech industries who give the fruit to business clients as gifts.

Some customers have already placed orders for 20 melons.

The Hsinchu City Farmers' Association says that the market price for a standard quality cantaloupe is about NT$100 per kg and that a top quality fruit weighing about 1.8kg will sell for between NT$600 and NT$800.

An official says that the high price comes from targeting the gift market, selling limited numbers of melons with a more beautiful pattern and from the lavish gift wrapping, all of which add NT$600 to a the price of a normal, high quality melon.
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