Pork products are popular in Taiwanese cuisine, but recent price increases are a pig deal for vendors and consumers alike.
Pork is the most popular meat consumed in Taiwan, with fried pork cutlets being one of the more popular menu items in local restaurants. This buffet typically offers this as part of their selection, but the proprietor reports that they merely break even on pork products due to the rising prices. However, because of high demand, they continue to include it in their food assortment.
Taiwanese consume pork in many forms including trotters, belly cut, ground meat, sausage, organs, and more. With the costs of feed and other raw materials going up, farmers are increasing prices per pig. One traditional market vendor says that each animal they purchase has increased NT$4000 to NT$5000 (US$125 to US$157) which is a huge burden to bear. For customers, pork prices have risen from NT$70 to NT$100 (US$2.19 to US$3.13) per kilogram, which is an increase of more than 40%.
With Mid-Autumn festival barbecues approaching, demands for meat products are expected to drive the prices even higher, causing consumers to second guess pigging out on pork.