TRC to sell limited-edition railway boxed lunches

HEALTHY: The boxed lunches, which were designed by TRC’s nutritionists based on the balance of nutrients and calories, would be available for a month until Nov. 7

• By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter

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The Agriculture and Food Agency collaborated with Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) to launch limited-edition railway boxed lunches in celebration of Double Ten National Day, which feature traceable, Taiwan-grown produce.

The boxed lunches use regional specialty ingredients such as Taiwan quinoa, glue berry, squid and eel, each having two main dishes.

For example, the meals available at TRC’s Taichung catering services branch has braised pork ribs and stir-fried baby squid as its dual entree, with braised tofu skin, fried taro balls and seasonal vegetables as side dishes.

New boxed lunches launched by the Agriculture and Food Agency and Taiwan Railway Corp are pictured in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times

People can buy the meals at TRC’s six local catering services branches in Taipei, Keelung’s Cidu District (七堵), Taichung, Kaohsiung, Hualien County and Taitung County until Nov. 7.

Agency Deputy Director-General Huang Chao-hsing (黃昭興) said each boxed lunch is priced at NT$199 and uses only traceable, Taiwan-grown ingredients.

The combination of ingredients was designed by TRC’s nutritionists based on the balance of nutrients and calories, he said.

TRC deputy general manager Huang Chen-chao (黃振照) said TRC has been implementing the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system across the six local services branches to ensure food safety.

He thanked the agency for assisting TRC in sourcing local food ingredients, adding that the company expects more collaborations with the agency.

Key ingredient suppliers also spoke.

Chiu Ming-chung (邱茗莊), head of the 29th coarse grains production and marketing group in Yunlin County’s Yuanchang Township (元長), said that the tofu skin used in the meals is made solely from “Kaohsiung No. 10” soybean, which has a richer aroma than imported soybean.

Tao City Veg chairwoman Yuka Yu (尤優佳) said that Tao City Veg is a major greenhouse vegetable farming company in central Taiwan with 20 hectares of cultivation area.

Its vegetables are supplied to more than 4,000 catering channels, including Din Tai Fung, she said.

Mr Djulis Co owner Ljuwa thanked the agency for helping integrate Taiwan quinoa — a traditional indigenous ingredient — into railway the boxed lunches for the first time.

Taiwan quinoa is mainly produced in Taitung and Pingtung counties, he said.

Taiwan quinoa and millet constitute the two critical economic crops for mountainous indigenous communities, where farmlands are limited and mechanized agriculture is not as applicable as in low-lying areas, Ljuwa said.

The agency said 20,000 boxed lunches would be produced during the event period, adding it expects the event to help Taiwan-grown produce become a regular part of railway lunchboxes.