Are KAS Snacks Overpriced?

By Jake Yen

As a high school student in KAS, I get hungry easily, especially when I have to wait until 1 PM for lunch everyday. Which leaves me with 2 alternatives for filling up my stomach: The snack bar, or the vending machines.  

Let’s talk about the snack bar first. Just by picking through a few items, I deduced that the snack bar adds around 10-15 NT to the price tag of an item. For example, a bag of Combos that would usually cost around 20 NT is 30 NT. Chocolate milk I can get at convenience stores for 15 NT, are instead 25 NT. Other items that don’t necessarily have a definite price tag, such as french fries, don’t carry a friendly value either. Being 49 NT, it is slightly smaller in mass than McDonald’s small fries, while still being around 10 NT more expensive than its McDonald’s counterpart, which currently sells for 40 NT. Lastly, even custom items such as the ham and egg sandwiches, or the corn soup, sell for around 10-20 NT more than its average price here in Taiwan.

Now for the vending machines. Recently installed last year, the vending machines features popular beverage tea options, as well as a fair amount of salty snacks. However, these snacks all share the same price raises as the food sold at the snack bar, being 10-20 NT more expensive than usual. A bag of Science Noodles, usually sold for 10 NT, sells for 20 NT. A 35 NT milk sells for a whopping 49 NT, undoubtedly one of the most expensive beverages sold at KAS. Another example here are the Koloko Pea Crackers, which are sold in small bags that are usually 15 NT, but instead sold for 25 NT.

But what do the KAS student body feel about this? From most of the people I have talked to, many feel as if the KAS snack prices are too high for their liking. However, due to the lack of alternatives, they still continue to buy snacks. Some feel as if the prices are somewhat justified, due to the snack bar and vending machines obviously needing profit to continue their business. Here are some opinions from members of the KAS high school student body:

"I do not support the snack bars actions in profiting off hungry students and selling expensive food. Upcharging for food that I could buy and microwave myself is plain stupid. How is the school trying to profit off the students and take their money which was likely given to them by their parents? Because the school only provides the snack bar or vending machine as the only food options aside from lunch, students are forced to give in and pay overpriced prices. In the absence of uber eats, students can only rely on the overpriced foods and i find this extremely unfair." -A very heated Jonathan Chen (‘27).

"Personally, I don't use the snack bar often so it doesn't affect me that much. I guess the price is a little much?" -This is one of the more neutral opinions, Yuki Shibata (‘27).

“Prices for snack bar went UP, and I guess the vending machines are a little better?” -Chloe Chen (‘25).

Prices of snacks in our school are obviously higher than the usual market prices, but how do you feel about this? Are these prices justified by the need to make profit to continue a sustainable business, or is it a just a well thought out business model made to target hungry kids?