The Student Association (SA) hosted an exciting event on December 5, bringing together students from Organization Theory and Management class and local businesses for getting insights from sustainability eco-friendly products, traditional and delicious food companies. The event featured three notable local companies: 微笑海龜 (Smiling Turtle), 艋舺雞排 (Monga Chicken Fillet), and 香腸世家 (Sausage Family).

Starting with the first company, 微笑海龜 (Smiling Turtle): the eco-friendly straws company. General manager 張益誠 shared his experiences starting his business from medical additive devices and senior health care business to a business that concern about global trend ‘plastic waste’ and following the Taiwan law about banning disposable plastic straw. The name Smiling Turtle inspired from the sea turtle suffering from consuming plastic and from the incident that a sea turtle was found with a plastic straw that was stuck in its nostril. Smiling Turtle showcased their eco-friendly straws, made from biodegradable materials like wheat fiber and derived biomaterial. "Our goal is to not let any turtles suffer with these kinds of incidents again," said the general manager. Moreover, the straws and other products such as spoons, bags, and mugs are made from Taiwan wheat and tea fiber. Students were impressed by the eco-friendly combined with local materials designs and their goal for reducing plastics waste.

艋舺雞排 (Monga Chicken Fillet) brought their famous, crispy chicken fillets to the event, much to the delight of attendees. After the attendees finished eating delicious chicken fillet, 林美君 the CEO shared her business background. The name ‘Monga’ originated from the most famously traditional area. Monga not only promotes their brand to the world but also presents Taiwan’s delicacy Taiwanese style fried chicken. The brand's challenge is to retain its original tastes with local taste preferences in other countries. For example in Toronto the popular menu is ‘Gua Bao’ Taiwanese burger bun with Chicken fillet. Monga has 25 branches in Taiwan, their franchise ideas inspired from the idea to sell chicken fillet as a representative of Taiwan culinary to foreign countries and also they want to make Asians who stay aboard feel like they are home when eating it.

The last company, 香腸世家 (Sausage Family), also shared their story with the attendees today. 王禮鑫 General Manager and 許舜綺 manager shared their success of 20th years of Sausage Family. Not only sharing their stories, they also brought their tasty sausages to attendees. Their handmade sausages with varied and unique flavor, made with local premium ingredients and seasonings with traditional techniques make their sausages very outstanding. For example, flying fish roe sausages and cuttlefish sausages which are unique and rich in flavor but still remain the Taiwanese sausage identities. Behind their success stories come from their dedication to research and identify customer needs before producing their products, to see what the target customers prefer the most when they develop a new flavor of sausages. Plus, the company thrives on combining consumer’s preference, traditional ingredients with adaptability to technology, leading to inventions of the sausages vending machine in Taiwan which can reach more customers.

In conclusion, this event offered valuable insights into the intersection of sustainability, local entrepreneurship, and Taiwan’s culinary traditions. The participating companies—Smiling Turtle, Monga Chicken Fillet, and Sausage Family—demonstrated not only their innovative business models but also their commitment to cultural preservation. Furthermore, 113-1 SA would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the local companies who participated in this event. Their insights sharing are very inspiring and informative. In addition, we would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Professor Fang Yi Lo for her generous support and guidance in making this event possible. Her willingness to collaborate with us is the key success of this event. With professor Fang Yi Lo and local companies' collaboration with the SA, we were able to bring together such inspiring moments, all focused on sustainability and innovation.

Written by Wasaya Chatkaroon: Vice President 113-1 SA