Yurim Workshop is a workshop in the prison that allows inmates to learn skills and sells products made in this process to help them return to society.
The place, which has been offering handicrafts such as lanterns, received great response from the lantern festival last year.
In particular, mooncakes made by inmates are inexpensive and delicious, causing a “out-of-stock” every year. Last year, 85,000 prepared were sold out in less than two hours, prompting a flurry of complaints from the Ministry of Justice. There were complaints from citizens that they had not been able to get a mooncake behind bars for four years, and the online order page was not even accessible.
This year, 70,000 units prepared on the first day of pre-booking on the 28th of last month were sold out in half a day, even though prices were raised due to rising raw material prices.
The prison increased its production to 100,000 this year, but 70,000 pre-orders were sold out in a day. A prison official explained, “At first, it was a normal mooncake, but when a five-star hotel chef was imprisoned in 2018, the taste improved and the popularity exploded afterwards.”
The remaining supplies will be sold for a limited amount of 100 boxes a day from Friday to Sunday. The price is 260 Taiwanese dollars for six pieces of “monochrome” with egg yolk, 410 Taiwanese dollars for 10 pieces, and 210 Taiwanese dollars for six pieces for green bean paste.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
