But machines imported from abroad proved to be unsuitable, because they were designed to handle asparagus of a larger size than that produced in Taiwan. In addition, the foreign machines were expensive (up to US $ 22,000 each), inefficient, processing only 40-50 pieces a minute, and, because of the five horsepower engine, costly to run.
有鑑於上述兩種沈重的壓力，國內業者曾經不憚高價，以每部新台幣八十餘萬元的價錢，進口了十幾部外國產製的削皮機，盼能扭轉外銷劣勢。可惜進口的削皮機不僅效率不高（每分鐘只能削 40－50 枝蘆筍）、體積大（需 5 馬力的電力帶動），且是半自動，仍需工人操作。