TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Convenience store chain Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家) and non-governmental organization One-Forty have launched a multilingual communication-friendly initiative in over 4,200 FamilyMart stores across Taiwan, aiming to ease communication barriers faced by migrant workers.
FamilyMart and One-Forty also unveiled the first nationwide survey on migrant workers' convenience store usage, showing that convenience stores are the most visited retail outlets by migrant workers. According to the survey, migrant workers frequent these stores every two days on average.
Kevin Chen (陳凱翔), co-founder of One-Forty, stated that as many as 90% of migrant workers struggle to adapt to life in Taiwan due to language barriers. As a result, One-Forty has introduced multilingual signboards to help bridge the language gap.
The signboards come in two sets: one for customers to use and another for cashiers to assist communication. Customers can also download and print the signboards from FamilyMart’s website. Additionally, FamilyMart has integrated six languages into its FamiPort services, including English, Indonesian, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese.
The two organizations have also initiated a donation campaign to support foreign caregivers of dementia patients. The funds will be used to produce educational materials and videos for caregiver training.
FamilyMart has been catering to migrant workers since 2020 by introducing Southeast Asian product sections in stores near residential and industrial areas. This year, they have added origin and "Halal" labels to products and aim to expand these sections to 500 stores by year-end.
In addition, the Muslim-friendly dish "Tom Yummy" (馬尚煮) is now available in 645 FamilyMart stores, and the company plans to expand to 1,000 stores by the end of the year.