Paris: A team of Taiwanese bakers achieved a commendable second place at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, also known as "The Bakery World Cup," held at Porte de Versailles in Paris. The event took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, attracting 10 teams from around the globe.

According to Focus Taiwan, the Taiwanese team, competing under the name "Chinese Taipei," impressed judges and visitors alike with their creations, which unmistakably represented Taiwanese culture and innovation. The team comprised traditional bread specialist Kao Chi-wei, Viennoiserie expert Chang Shi-bin, and Peng Xin-rou, who crafted a giant bread sculpture themed "The Great Inventions of Your Country."

Peng integrated iconic Taiwanese elements such as bubble tea and semiconductor chips into her artistic creation, expressing that "Taiwan's greatest invention is its people." She highlighted the challenge of completing the intricate piece within a 10-hour timeframe, including preparation and on-site production.

Kao, known for his traditional bread expertise, used Tieguanyin tea from Taipei's Muzha area combined with dried pineapple, while Chang, focusing on sweet breads, incorporated Taiwanese fruits, drawing inspiration from Taipei 101. Both faced challenges adapting to Paris' dry climate, hard water, and unfamiliar equipment, emphasizing the importance of time management and teamwork, especially with judges sampling their products before the competition concluded.

Taiwan had previously won the championship in 2022, under the leadership of Justin Wu, who now serves as the team's coach. Wu expressed satisfaction with the team's performance this year, given their brief three-week training period. "Winning second place is already the best outcome we could achieve after doing our best," he stated, noting their precision in objective scoring categories like weight and specifications contributed to their success.