Suncakes — flat flaky pastries with sweet fillings — and colored glass art were among the most appealing Taiwanese souvenirs according to participants in a survey conducted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
Rice noodles, dried mango, functional ceramic art and Hakka blue dye handicrafts were the other top choices among 25 food and seven handicraft items in the two-part survey.
The initiative was part of the government’s One Town One Product (OTOP) program aimed at encouraging the development of products with local cultural features, the ministry said.
The government hopes that by identifying local specialties, the program will help attract both domestic and foreign buyers and encourage the upgrading of local industries.
Eighty percent of the survey score was based on an event on Sept. 14 where 100 foreign nationals, including members of the diplomatic corps stationed in Taiwan, were invited to sample and then vote for their three favorite food items and three favorite handicraft items.
The other 20 percent of the score was based on a Chinese-language online poll conducted between Aug. 27 and Sept. 27.
The ministry did not release the overall scores for each item; it only identified the top three finishers in the two categories.
However, the online poll results have been posted and showed a divergence of opinion from the foreigners who participanted in the Sept. 14 event.
Pineapple cakes were the big winner online in the food category, taking almost 40 percent of the vote, but could not crack the top three in the overall standings.
High mountain tea and Oriental Beauty Tea also ranked high in the online survey.
In the handicraft category, the two highest rated products among online voters — Aboriginal handmade bags (25 percent) and glove puppets (24 percent) — also did not finish in the top three overall.
All of the products included in the survey are available at OTOP-labeled stores, which can be found at Taipei 101, the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Taichung station and the Sun Moon Lake area, among other places, the ministry said.
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