TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Food prices continue to rise as restaurants across Taiwan raise prices to make ends meet.



Recently, fast-casual restaurant, Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張), purveyors of everyday fare such as braised pork rice, duck eggs, pork ribs and bitter gourd soup, announced a NT$5 (US$0.17) price hike on many menu items, representing a 5% price increase.

Aware of the outrage higher prices caused when the restaurant last raised prices three years ago, the restaurant was quick to reassure customers that prices will remain the same on 77% of menu items, according to a web post.

In a press release, Formosa Chang said the price increases will start on Feb. 1. Management apologized to customers, explaining the price hike was unavoidable due to three major challenges: The COVID-19 epidemic, rising raw material prices, and higher wages.



After careful deliberation, and concern for middle-class consumers who make up the bulk of the restaurant’s clientele, management lifted prices by NT$5 on approximately 10 different lunch boxes, NT$5 for two types of desserts, and NT$1 for duck eggs. Other a la carte items retain their original pricing.

Founded in 1960, Formosa Chang has grown to include 69 branches across Taiwan. With so many branches, the company implements large-scale procurement of foodstuffs, and has sought to make supply chain management more efficient. Still, such gains were not enough to offset increasing raw material prices.

According to the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics, the growth rate of materials in the 2022 Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed an annual increase of 6.54% for rice, 6.75% for pork, 5.6% for chicken, 27.81% for eggs, and 15.4% for salad oil.

Not just basic food staples have increased in price, as Formosa Chang said that from 2020 to 2022, base monthly salaries have been adjusted by 10.9%, and the basic hourly salary has been adjusted upwards by 11.4%.