The wait for Asia’s most popular snack in the US is over
The hype that surrounds IRVINS Salted Egg snacks is
unreal. You can feel this hype in Singapore or Malaysia. The company’s
inception dates back to 2015, and over the years, the chip and snack company
has become an international phenomenon. The Philippines, Japan, and Thailand
are just some of the places where it has already established its presence.
However, bringing them to the US has been rather
difficult. The ones who tried to buy these snacks often had to wait in long
lines and then still return empty-handed.
But there is some good news, IRVINS Salted Egg is going
to be easy to access for US customers since they are planning on launching in
the stores around the country.
What’s the concept of the salted egg? Well, in case you
aren’t familiar with it, salted eggs are trendy in Southeast Asia. As an
ingredient, it is used as a condiment or in tiny amounts. The founder of
IRVINS, Irvin Guranwan, capitalized on this flavor. He did this at his
Malaysian and Singaporean seafood restaurants. At these restaurants, salted egg
chips were served as side dishes. Soon enough, chips became so popular that
they evolved into a full-on snack brand.
At the inception, in the US, only a few varieties will be
sold, although you’ll still have to get the fish skins that they are accessible
in ways already described. The flavors include the Salted Egg Potato and Salted
Egg Cassava in both regular and Hot Boom (aka spicy) flavors in addition to the
standard flavored Crunchy Roll. The suggested retail price for each bag is
$8.99.
Some of the sale spots for the first bags post the
initial launch include Bopomofo Café; it’s a SoCal boba shop that is run by
Philip Wang, whom you may know from Youtube and WongFu Productions. Bopomofo
café has got the first exclusive. Here the chips for sale will start
indefinitely from February 25.
However, Eric Wang, the co-founder of Bopomofo café, has
confirmed that soon enough, more flavors will be sold as well.
After this, California and Texas are next target markets.
You can find the snacks in San Francisco and Los Angeles markets in numerous
Asian grocers. These places include H Mart, 99 Ranch, Marina Foods, Seafood
City, and Pacific Super. Whereas in Texas, the chips could be bought at Ding
Tea locations in Arlington and Garland. By the beginning of March, you can find
IRVINS products at these places.
New York follows this launch on March 15 at New
Territories, and after that, a nationwide expansion is planned. For more info
on the full USA rollout, you can check out their Instagram and Facebook feeds.