In Taiwan, there is a recurring shortage of so-called “prison pastries” as the Mid-Autumn Festival, a significant holiday in the Chinese cultural sphere, approaches. According to a report by Feng Chuan Mei on the 1st (local time), the pre-order stock of “Caged Mooncakes” released for the holiday by “Yulim Workshop” inside Taiwan’s Changhua Prison sold out early.
Despite a price increase due to rising raw material costs, the 70,000 pre-ordered items prepared on the first day of pre-sales on the 28th of last month sold out in just half a day. Yulim Workshop is a prison-based workshop that aims to provide technical training for inmates for their societal adaptation post-release.
The workshop sells handicrafts such as lanterns non-profitably, and in 2023, the lanterns made by Yulim Workshop were hugely popular at the lantern festival. Particularly, the mooncakes made by inmates are known for their affordable price and excellent taste, leading to a yearly shortage.
Last year, 85,000 mooncakes sold out in less than two hours, resulting in a flood of complaints to the Ministry of Justice from citizens unable to purchase them. One citizen lamented, “For four years, I couldn’t get the caged mooncakes. I couldn’t connect by phone, and the online order page was inaccessible.”
Driven by the high demand, production was increased to 100,000 this year, yet the 70,000 pre-order stock sold out in a single day. A prison official noted, “The mooncakes were initially ordinary, but after a five-star chef was imprisoned in 2018, their taste improved significantly, causing a surge in popularity and steadily increasing sales.”
Yulim Workshop plans to sell the remaining caged mooncakes, excluding pre-order stock, in limited quantities of 100 boxes daily from the 8th to the 12th. The “Egg Yolk Mooncake” is priced at 260 TWD (around 11,800 KRW) for six pieces and 410 TWD (around 18,000 KRW) for ten, while the “Mung Bean Cake” with mung bean paste is 210 TWD (around 9,500 KRW) for six pieces.