The Agriculture and Food Agency has set up a pavilion at the Taipei International Bakery Show to promote rice-based bakery products along with the domestic rice industry.
The show began yesterday and runs through Sunday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
The average price for rice exports increased annually last year, although export volume dropped, agency deputy director Huang Chao-hsing (黃昭興) told a news conference yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Improving rice export products would be a development priority, he said, adding that more than 12,000 tonnes of rice were exported to Japan last year.
More than 100 rice-based products are on display at the show, including rice noodles, rice cakes, rice flour and crispy rice treats.
Huang encouraged the public to choose rice-based products made from domestically grown rice, as they are produced with much fewer “food miles” and have a smaller carbon footprint.
People can get a NT$50 coupon for every NT$500 they spend at the pavilion, he said, adding that people could receive gifts, such as small suitcases, for purchases of sufficient amounts.
Yu Shao-min (游邵閔), a rice farmer from Taoyuan’s Dayuan District (大園), has set up a stall showcasing flavored popped rice — also known as puffed rice — at the pavilion.
“We tried to combine popped rice with different locally grown produce such as tea, peanut butter or fermented bean curd,” he said.
Yu said his family has been rice farmers for three generations.
Given that consumer habits have changed and rice is consumed less often than before, Yu said he began developing processed rice products such as flavored popped rice and rice koji amazake when he returned to his hometown after finishing his college studies in culinary arts.
Popped rice is convenient to eat while camping or watching films, Yu said.
He said he created the rice brand Feng Cang (豐滄) for his family business, with the goal of educating the public about rice production and promoting agricultural innovation in Taiwan.
The family’s Longquan tea-flavored popped rice has won awards from the Ministry of Agriculture, Yu said, adding that they have also collaborated with businesses, including China Airlines and Taoyuan Metro Corp, on developing gift boxes.
Although rice is considered to have less economic value than other produce, such as strawberries, such processing approaches could add value to the crop, he said.
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