In an era of soaring prices, a simple lunch box can cost more than NT$100. Previously, retailer PX-Mart and the agriculture ministry joined forces to launch low-cost lunch boxes at only NT$60 a pop, and they are proving to be popular. Convenience store chains 7-Eleven and FamilyMart joined the program on April 15, launching NT$60 lunch boxes of their own.

The humble braised chicken drumstick lunch box is no longer so affordable. This retailer sells it for NT$110.

It’s not that businesses don’t want to make a small profit with quick turnovers. It’s that commodity prices are going up with no signs of subsiding. Business operators are complaining that if they sell lunchboxes for NT$60, they won’t make any profits at all.

Lunch box shop operator
The cost of the meat is about NT$25, and then the total cost of the vegetables is roughly NT$10, so it is NT$35, and then there are paper bowls, rice and the cost of eggs. If we sell them that cheaply, we won’t make any profits. Sixty New Taiwan dollars is the market price 10 years ago.

Lunch boxes on the low end now cost more than NT$100. Where did all the cheap meals go?

A pork chop bigger than your face or this lunch box with a fried chicken cutlet cost only NT$60. These “happy meals” are the result of cooperation between the agriculture ministry and supermarket chain PX Mart. Since they were launched in March last year, 3.78 million have been sold and sales volumes amount to NT$224 million. And more options are set to launch by the end of April.

Member of the public
It’s not bad, you save a lot of money. Because if you eat out, you have to spend quite a bit. For example, a pork chop costs NT$80 or more and can even go up to NT$120.

Member of the public
Everyone is willing to pay for delicious food, but if the delicious food is cheap, people are even more willing to fork out.

The cheap and generous servings for just NT$60 have won over the hearts of many. Convenience store chains 7-Eleven and FamilyMart have also teamed up with the Ministry of Agriculture. On April 15, they launched NT$60 lunchboxes in hopes of winning over customers who watch their wallets.

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