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.
PHOTO: CHEN WEI-JEN, TAIPEI TIMES
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.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS