Introduction of the “Latecomer Sharon Bakery” of Tainan Prison, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice

In the beginning of 2008, the Prison started a training class to teach the inmates to make homemade egg rolls. The purpose for the class is to train the inmate to become more careful and patient and teach them how to bake. Therefore, the inmate will have a skill that helps him/her find a job to survive. This way, the inmate can return to society successfully and start a new life. We have held more than 20 classes since 2008 and there are more than 200 inmates who have passed the training. A few released prisoners now have baking-related jobs. For example, a released prisoner Mr. Yang has his egg roll brand “Baa Baa Sheep Egg Roll” and another released prisoner Mr. Liu has his brand “Handmade Egg Roll of the Gang Boss”. The results have been fruitful over the years and our training is recognized by the public.

The inmate’s baking technique has become more mature and the products they make have become more delicate. The Prison expanded the self-run business and started to sell products outside the Prison in the same year. Meanwhile, we continue to create new flavors for the products. The handmade egg roll has seven flavors now, including the original, sesame, coffee, seaweed, lemon, pork floss, and brown sugar flavors. Our homemade egg roll class continues performing the traditional and friendly production method. We use high-end butter imported from New Zealand, genuine materials, and solid ingredients. No artificial flavors, preservatives, or desiccants are added. The mellow taste is the authentic flavor of human warmth. The public can feel safe about the ingredients of the product. The inmate’s ingenuity can thus be transmitted through the baking products. In 2009, we started a new training program for handmade cookies and sold the self-run business products outside the Prison. The handmade cookies have seven flavors now, including the almond chips, pumpkin seed chips, chocolate and almond, macadamia, parmesan cheese, mixed nuts, and traditional walnut cookies. Moreover, we have a pineapple cake giftbox, sour pineapple cake giftbox, and exquisite giftbox.

After the products were heard of by the public by word of mouth and reported on TV programs, the Internet, and print media, we received a great amount of orders. Usually, reservation for the purchase of products has to be made one month in advance, and before Spring Festival and other holidays, reservation for the purchase of products has to be made at least three months in advance. The sales amount of the handmade egg rolls and cookies produced in the self-run business program have come out in front of the list of prisons. They are popular on the online team buying list. To comply with the Trademark Act and prevent knock-off items from showing up in the market, we filed a trademark application and registered the name “Latecomer Sharon Bakery” on July 1, 2012. We gave the product the name to show the local culture for it is the romanization of the name of the city where the Prison is. The egg roll represents our sincerity. We are grateful and want to give gratitude to consumers.