Greater Taichung has been rocked by the suicide of Wei Yu-chi (魏郁奇), an heir to one of the city’s biggest family businesses, Sun Cakes (太陽餅).
Wei committed suicide on Dec. 20 last year by burning coal in a car near his family residence in Fengyuan District (豐原).
He was the third-generation owner of the Wei family’s sun cake pastry business.
His grandfather, Wei Ching-hai (魏清海), established the business after claiming to have invented the sun cake, a sweet pastry with malt sugar filling.
After Wei Ching-hai passed away, his son, Wei Chien-san (魏建三), led the family business. It was later passed to his son, Wei Yu-chi, in partnership with Lin Chi-hai (林祺海), an adopted son of Wei Ching-hai.
Wei Yu-chi and Lin’s partnership later ended and six years ago, Wei Yu-chi raised about NT$40 million (US$1.33 million) to start a new store carrying the trademark with his grandfather’s name.
Trying to fight off competition from numerous imitators, many claiming to be the original, Wei Yu-chi received much publicity as he branded his store “the one and only true inheritor of the original sun cake inventor.”
“He was too focused on preserving the reputation of the family pastry business. Management of the store did not run smoothly, and costs continually rose. He came under a lot of pressure and owed large debts to suppliers and creditors. We think it was pressure from his business debts that he was unable to pay that made him end it all,” a relative said.
Greater Taichung’s sun cake business as a whole remains popular and generates good revenues. However, increasing competition and the introduction of other snacks has affected individual firms’ profitability.
A city official said an estimated 500-plus shops sell the cakes and other related pastries in Greater Taichung.
Lin said some figures put Greater Taichung’s annual sun cake market at over NT$1 billion.
“Many businesspeople have opened sun cake stores all over the city. This results in stiff competition. In truth, it is not easy to make a profit in this business,” he said.
Lin said that he has about 80 to 90 employees and added that with the cost of ingredients and other overheads, along with management and marketing expenses, “If daily takings do not reach NT$200,000, then we will not turn a profit.”
Chuang Nai-hui (莊乃慧), another Taichung sun cake store proprietor, said she was shocked to hear of Wei’s death.
“His grandfather was acknowledged as the originator and master chef of sun cakes. Wei was trying to recreate the prosperity his grandfather enjoyed, but now there is too much competition. He was under too much pressure and his ambitions were overtaken by the reality of today’s market,” Chuang said.
“Consumers have also been cutting back on the purchase of cakes, snacks and pastry because of the poor economy and food scandals,” she added. “To ensure that honest and reputable companies will not be affected [by the scandals], we hope the government can approve food safety regulations and grant official licenses.”
Chuang said making sun cakes in the traditional way requires a high degree of technical know-how.
“You need professional pastry chefs, who command higher salaries. Electricity and other overheads are high. In this business, product quality control and intelligent marketing are also very important. So you see, we are always under lots of pressure in this business,” she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
RSS