Xialun Sweet Potato Roasted Sweet Potatoes Introduction
Cai You-Tian (born in 1934) worked in agriculture, selling sweet potato vines to farmers for planting. The Cai brothers did not wish to follow in their father's footsteps; the eldest, Cai Zhen-Cun (born in 1964), went north to open a restaurant, while the second brother, Cai Zhen-Xiong (born in 1965), opened a supermarket in Kouhu. The restaurant did not perform well and eventually closed down. Cai Zhen-Cun remembered the sweet potatoes from his childhood, so he began selling them at the Linjiang Traditional Market, with the supply provided by his brother Cai Zhen-Xiong back in their hometown. The business unexpectedly thrived, but the profit margin was not high. After selling sweet potatoes for a while, he switched to selling charcoal-roasted sweet potatoes, which turned out to be a huge success, leading to the registration of the trademark "Tu Po Shu Charcoal-Roasted Sweet Potatoes." Cai Zhen-Xiong, in addition to supplying his brother Cai Zhen-Cun with materials for charcoal-roasted sweet potatoes, also became a supplier for more than ten other charcoal-roasted sweet potato vendors in the northern region. In 2003, Cai Zhen-Xiong closed his supermarket business to focus solely on supplying sweet potatoes and eventually started selling charcoal-roasted sweet potatoes himself, gaining his brother's consent to operate under the name "Tu Po Shu Charcoal-Roasted Sweet Potatoes," and made a name for himself in the Xia-Lun area. Cai Zhen-Xiong sources his sweet potatoes from two locations, primarily from Yunlin, but...
