Cheese Report August 2021

Featured Report

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Industry and Government Join Hands in Epidemic Prevention and Economy

Since mid-May, Taiwan’s Level 3 Epidemic Alert has been extended several times, reducing the income of local industries in tourism, agriculture, and aquaculture, making their survival difficult. In the meantime, what government assistance is available to business owners besides epidemic relief funds?

Tri-Mountain Admin Helps Tourism Industry with Online Sales and Big Prize Drawings

During Level 3 Epidemic Alert, people have reduced their shopping trips, greatly impacting the business of various industries. The Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area Administration encourages the public to take advantage of online shopping and delivery services. The administration gathered together tourism businesses in Taichung, Changhua, Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City, and Miaoli to roll out the “Tri-Mountain Food Travel Shopping Portal.” It contains 57 online stores, including local specialty shops, restaurants, hotels, tourism factories, and farmer’s unions, such as Kobayashi Cookies, Shark’s Choice, Zhengsheng Fermented Tofu, Wu Chun Tea Hall, Hai Rei Meatballs, Ningbo Food, and Hotel National. It’s a convenient one-stop-shop for shoppers to choose various agricultural products, ready-to-serve foods, and snacks from this tourism area. At the same time, the Administration also launched the “Unlimited” prize drawing event. Shoppers who make purchases online during the event will be entered for the prize drawing of “all you can eat Wu-Feng rice, all you can play at Lihpao Resort, and all you can soak at Ku Kuan Hot Spring Hotel.”

In addition, the administration also assists tourism businesses by signing up with Oh! Bear to target the Hong Kong market. The first effort was helping Ningbo Foods (a winner of Top Ten Taichung Gifts) to license and produce ten Oh! Bear co-branded merchandise such as golden kimchi, braised bamboo and pork, and drunken sausages to be exported to Hong Kong, so that Hong Kong shoppers can also enjoy Taiwanese food during the pandemic.

For details, visit the Tri-Mountain Food Travel Shopping Portal

East Rift Valley Administration Assists Indigenous Tribes with Online Sales

Do you miss the taste of the East Coast? The East Rift Valley National Scenic Area Administration has organized an online platform for the tribal products that they have worked with, to provide shoppers with high-quality food and products.

First, we recommend the red glutinous rice sold by Hualien County’s Kuang Fu Tafalong Tribe’s Red Rice Store. The rice is grown in the black soil of the Coastal Mountain Range. In traditional society, red glutinous rice is eaten only at weddings and in religious rituals. As for “rice 86” in Hualien’s Ceroh Tribe, it is not an actual species of rice. It is a term that reflects a rural community value. Labor exchange is a way for farmers to make up for what they lack in their daily lives. This type of emotional and economic interaction is referred to as “rice 86” in the Amis language.

There are also four tribes from Taitung: 1) Kaadaadaan Tribe’s Baoma Eatery offers tribal dishes such as pork hock stewed in fermented rice, ground pork with pickles and fermented rice, “military village” fried sauce, and Baoma chili sauce. 2) To reclaim the Bunun Culture, Kamcing Tribe’s Kaiana Workshop has been devoted to the farming of millet. From tilting, seeding, thinning, to chasing off the birds, every task is done by hand; the harvest is the fruit of hard work. 3) Uninang Tribe’s Uninang Diversity Cultural Workshop delivers to your doorsteps the resilience of Bunun hunters and delicacies of the mountains in the form of great food. 4) Pasikau Tribe’s Abusi Traditional Bunun Garment Workshop uses the “davuk” cloth (meaning “baby-rearing bag” in the Bunun language) to create artisan crafts of different themes, hoping to give the product users the blessings of the land.

For details, visit the East Rift Valley Tribal Agricultural Product Sales Platform

Maolin Administration Takes You on Maolin Online Tours

Following the Level 3 Epidemic Alert guidelines, Maolin National Scenic Area Administration has closed its three visitor centers (XinWei, Maolin, Rinali) and the corresponding scenic areas since May 20^th. All rental services and stores are also closed in the meantime, including rest stops, Saijia Park, the Eighteen Arhats Mountain Service Area, Sens Café, Svongvong Bakery, Jubaolai Restaurant, Foguang Yuntai Homestay, etc.

Many local businesses continue to work hard for livelihood amid anti-epidemic efforts. During this period, Maolin Administration has taken on the alter ego of “Mao Housekeeper” and applied online logistics to bring the scenic attraction and business service information to the public and to provide people with fun traveling experiences online even as they stay at home, so that the beautiful mountains and rivers can be enjoyed by many, and the hard work of the businesses may not be in vain.

The first “Maolin Online Tour” presents the story of a Drekai youth returning to his hometown to start a business. Bread-making is his way of telling his story of courage and strength. The subsequent online tours take stay-at-home tourists to virtually view Liangshan Fall, hike Eighteen Arhats Mountain, breath in XinWei Forest Park, visit Bolai Hot Spring, and enjoying discounts at Suai-A-Ka Culture-Sharing Space.

In addition, you can download pictures of Maolin scenery and use them as the background image for online video conferences such as Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, so that attending meetings can feel as refreshing and enjoyable as traveling.

For details, visit Maolin Online Tour

Easy Shopping at Farmtour Market: Food for Now, Travel for Later

Farmtour Market uses the products of different towns and seasonal ingredients nurtured by nature as the basis for hundreds of agritourism activities: picking tea, harvesting vegetables, planting seedlings, tasting flower-based cuisine, being a fisherman, milking cows, etc. It’s a supermarket where you can buy a myriad of things: food, lodging, activities, products, and tours. At present, there are more than 300 agritourism itineraries in Taiwan!

While it is impossible to visit leisure farms under Level 3 Epidemic Alert, special agricultural products from all parts of Taiwan can be easily ordered without leaving the house, such as Yilan’s three-star green onions and Michelin-grade sweetfish, Taoyuan’s lotus leaf rice noodles and lotus coffee, Hsinchu’s grouper miso hotpot and blueberries, Changhua’s ruby of the farmland—dragon fruit, Yunlin’s export-grade eel, Nantou’s passion fruit, Tainan’s mango and preserved eggs that have earned the Shennong Award, and much more. All you need to do is make a phone call or order online, and all kinds of goodies will be delivered to your home. You can enjoy the delicious food that is delivered directly from the product origin and travel all over Taiwan with your mouth.

For details, visit Farmtour Market