From Standard Chartered Building Cafe to AI Net-Zero Promoter: How does Taichuang Digital turn lunch box ordering into a good carbon rights business?
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When the COVID-19 epidemic swept the world in 2020, many office workers in commercial and office buildings in Taiwan experienced a period when it was difficult to even eat lunch. At that time, many restaurants prohibited indoor use, and even take-out was restricted, which made many office workers miserable. However, this crisis has become an opportunity for Song Weiming, general manager of Taichuang Digital Co., Ltd., to create a new blue ocean.
Starting from a coffee shop located in the Standard Chartered Liaoning Building in Taipei, and now building an exclusive corporate food ordering platform “Canteen”, Taichuang Digital not only solves the problem of five internal organs temples for office workers, but also upgrades the original trivial administrative tasks into strategic tools for enterprises to promote ESG and digital transformation. Not only do they deliver meals, they are also committed to providing a net-zero carbon solution for office lunches.
The “manual” transformation forced by the epidemic: from Google Forms to digital platforms
“At that time, I saw office workers upstairs who were very troubled every day at noon,” General Manager Song recalled. “The store does not serve inside, not even take-out. Customers will get tired of eating only meals from our cafe every day. Someone asked us, is there a way to order a lunch box from a certain restaurant? Entrust us to contact them?” This seemingly simple request turned into a clear business opportunity in Song Weiming’s eyes.
In the first month or so, Song Weiming adopted the most primitive ordering and purchasing model, which was to ask people to shout “+1” through the LINE group. “We set up a LINE group to help everyone order lunch from a certain restaurant every day. Those who need it can place an order in the group by ‘adding one plus one’.” He said with a smile, “It’s like a university club ordering chicken chops.”
As demand increased, the team advanced to using Google Forms for statistics, placing orders at 3pm and closing at 9am the next day.
However, this handicraft business model soon encountered bottlenecks. Because there is no pre-collection mechanism, it is impossible to verify whether the orderer is an employee of the building, and “run orders” often occur. Coupled with errors in manual statistics, the product specification error rate is as high as 5%.
“When we do business, we don’t want to incur these hidden costs, and we don’t want to touch cash anymore.” In order to fundamentally solve the pain points, Taichuang Digital decided to carry out a thorough digital transformation. They developed the app with reference to the e-commerce shopping cart concept, introduced electronic payments such as LINE Pay and credit cards, and connected cloud invoices. This not only solved the risk of running orders, but also made the transaction process paperless and automated.
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“I told the information company at that time that I wanted to do more than just a food ordering platform.” General Manager Song recalled his persistence at the time: “I had two non-negotiable requirements: first, electronic payment must be introduced, and I don’t want to touch cash anymore; second, it must be connected to the electronic invoice cloud system and no paper invoices are issued. I hope that my platform can achieve ‘digital + carbon reduction’ from the beginning.”
Key transformation: Use “carbon reduction” to knock on the door of enterprises and monetize waiting time for elevators
In the red ocean market dominated by Uber Eats and Foodpanda, Taichuang Digital has chosen a completely different B2B track. After all, how did they convince the corporate welfare committee and general affairs committee to foot the bill? The trump card in Song Weiming’s hand is unexpected, which is environmental protection and efficiency that no one can imagine.
As Taiwanese companies face increasingly severe ESG transformation pressure, many business owners are struggling with how to transform sustainability goals from beautiful annual report numbers into actions that employees can feel every day. According to statistics, more than 80% of listed and listed companies in Taiwan have incorporated ESG into their corporate strategies, but less than 20% of companies can truly integrate carbon reduction behaviors into daily operations and involve every employee.
“We tell business owners that although the progress of environmental protection goals has stalled slightly during the epidemic, plastic reduction will always be an important policy direction.”
“Companies are talking about net-zero goals, but don’t know where to start?” General Manager Song told the business owner, “Ordering lunch is a behavior that happens every day in every company, but it is also the most easily overlooked carbon reduction scenario. What we want to do is to turn the lunch benefits of the company directly into quantifiable ESG results.”
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Therefore, Taichuang Digital implements a mandatory “no disposable tableware” policy and displays data to the company: According to the Environmental Protection Bureau’s public version, each employee’s own tableware can reduce more than ten kilograms of carbon emissions every day. The cumulative effect is considerable ESG performance.
Another key to impressing enterprises is the elevator, which is easily overlooked. As we all know, during the lunch rush hour in commercial office buildings, waiting for the elevator can often take 20 to 30 minutes. Taichuang adopts a “centralized collection of orders and unified delivery to designated floors” model. Employees only need to walk to the pantry to pick up meals. This not only gives employees half an hour more rest time, but also significantly reduces the frequency of elevator use and energy consumption, creating a win-win situation for the company, employees and the environment.
Yes, this persuasive logic worked! Taichuang Digital has officially upgraded its brand positioning to “the net-zero carbon emission solution for office lunches.” From now on, “Canteen” is no longer just a food ordering platform, but a digital tool for companies to realize their sustainable commitments.
Overturning the labor shortage crisis: creating a friendly workplace with “secondary employment”
In addition, when the catering service industry is facing a general shortage of workers, Taichuang Digital has also found a stable new force. Since the working hours for the lunch service are very short, only concentrated in the two hours of 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., this is unattractive to people generally seeking full-time work, and was Taichuang Digital’s biggest manpower bottleneck.
“Later we found that this was an advantage for women who were employed for the second time or middle-aged and elderly retirees.” Song Weiming said that by standardizing the process (such as simply labeling lunch boxes to identify lunch boxes), the work content has become simpler and less burdensome. In addition, the hourly wage is 20 to 30 yuan higher than the basic wage. This “micro-working hour” model has successfully attracted the investment of elders who want to take care of their families or do not want to work too hard, turning the original disadvantage of missing work into stable human resources.
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AI empowerment and carbon rights points: Based in Taoyuan, looking to Bangkok
Looking forward to 2026, Taichuang Digital’s layout will be more ambitious, focusing on AI applications, data monetization and overseas expansion.
AI health management and emotional ordering: In the future, the “Canteen Ordering” App will be more than just a food ordering tool. The team is developing a combination of AI image analysis technology to analyze the protein and calories of meals through taking photos. There are even plans to launch voice-based mood ordering. Users only need to say “How am I feeling today and what do I want to eat?” and the system will recommend suitable lunches or drinks, making ordering more humane and health-conscious. Carbon rights passbook and point economy: Song Weiming revealed that the current carbon reduction data will be converted into membership points or carbon passbook in the future. The goal is to connect these carbon rights with large enterprises (such as 7-11, Uni-President Group, etc.) after obtaining carbon footprint certification, to achieve a green cycle of discounting the amount of one kilogram of carbon emissions, and to make environmental protection behavior valuable.
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Returning to Taoyuan, heading south to Bangkok: As a native of Yangmei in Taoyuan, Song Weiming hopes to bring Taipei’s successful model back to his hometown and cooperate with the Taoyuan City Government to establish a demonstration site. At the same time, he also set his sights overseas, especially Bangkok, Thailand. Taking advantage of the local high-density business environment and acceptance of food delivery similar to Taipei, Taichuang Digital plans to copy this B2B green ordering model to first-tier cities in Southeast Asia.
Breaking the dilemma between convenience and sustainability: making “booking lunch” the most cost-effective ESG investment for enterprises
“Don’t underestimate the action of ordering lunch. There is great meaning behind it.” Song Weiming’s words express the core insight of Taichuang Digital.
Taichuang Digital’s service fee is only about 15 to 20 yuan, which is more competitive than mainstream food delivery platforms, and it insists on on-time delivery. Song Weiming hopes that in the future, companies can absorb this meager service fee and regard it as a part of employee welfare and ESG investment.
From a single location in the Standard Chartered Liaoning Building in Taipei, to four major commercial offices including Dunnan Life Insurance, Renai Anhe and Taipei Cultural and Creative Industries, there is even a recent plan to set up the first public sector ESG demonstration site in Taoyuan. Founder Song Weiming used three precise business model transformations to demonstrate how convenience and sustainability are no longer a matter of choosing one or the other, but a win-win solution achieved through digital technology: companies achieve ESG goals, employees enjoy benefits and conveniences, and the platform creates business value.
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Just as General Manager Song appealed to office workers: “From today on, please take an extra second to choose to bring your own tableware for lunch. This small choice adds up to a huge environmental impact. Let us prove together: a sustainable life can start with a delicious and environmentally friendly lunch.”
This is not just a slogan, but a business belief that Taichuang Digital is practicing and proving. They have just started on this “net-zero lunch” path, but they have already shown us that as long as they can accurately connect to market pain points and adhere to sustainable values, even the most humble lunch can become a key force in changing the industrial ecology.
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Further reading
- From a century-old shop to a zero-waste factory, how Dafang Dougan turns waste into gold and creates sustainable business opportunities
- From handwritten notes to AI diversion, how can global pharmacies turn Li Changbo’s human touch into a digital moat?
- From the delivery room to the dining table: How Taiwan’s first “confinement agency” Zili broke the boundary between mother and baby and transformed into full-age care
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