TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — PX Mart, one of Taiwan’s major retail chains, on Thursday (Jan. 12) rolled out no-inflation deals and bargain bento meals amid rising prices.

In a collaboration with the Council of Agriculture (COA), the initiative will see a section set up in the supermarket's stores where discounted commodities are available. Preferential offers will last for some time after the Lunar New Year, per Agriharvest.

Items marked down include vegetables, rice, chicken, and fish, with further discounts between Friday (Jan. 13) and Sunday (Jan. 15). Over 1,000 PX Mart stores across the country are participating in the event, in a move to help relieve consumers’ burden, said COA.

Meanwhile, PX Mart will soon start providing “happiness bento” meals at NT$60 (US$1.98) and is expected to sell over two million units a year, according to COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲). The government is sponsoring the program for those hit hardest by sustained inflation.

The bento boxes will first be available at the 190 stores in the north during lunch and dinner hours. Already such bargain meals are being offered at retail chain Carrefour and some universities and train stations.

Grateful to PX Mart, Chen said the retailer has been lending support to Taiwan’s farmers when they need it most, placing large orders of surplus crops from pineapples to bananas. Last year, PX Mart came to the rescue of local grouper fish farmers with orders of 500 tons of the fish following China’s ban over the alleged presence of prohibited chemicals.