MANILA, Philippines - Ilove chips, wafer sticks, and snack food ? in any order, I love them all. For me, ?comfort food has to do with snacks. My ?favorite snacks were the reward treat I got for doing my chores at home when I was little. My fave snacks were what I was fed when I was feeling under the weather and my mom said that it was a bad thing to take meds on an empty stomach. Snack treats were also what I shared with my younger brother when we went playing in the midsummer afternoon.
In the box
So it was truly a “wow” feeling for me when the giant boxes of Oishi snack food were delivered to our office. So wow was the experience that I wanted to climb into the box and hide there as I ate each of the yummy snacks. It was like a taste test to the max, and then some.
The first box I got a chance to get a few small bags of chips from was the Oishi Prawn Crackers, which I had grown up with. I can still remember being about 10 years old and having my fill of Oishi Prawn Crackers. Childhood was a fun time for me so being able to gobble on the prawn crackers to my heart’s content — and my waistline’s discontent — was such a heartwarming experience that brought back good memories.
I fell in love with the Wasabi potato chips of the Gourmet Selection when I first tasted them a few years back. Since spicy is in for me, I also love the kimchi-flavored potato chips. I also am quite fond of the nori and sea-salt variants, too. For the health-conscious among us, be informed that these chips are cooked using sunflower oil, which is high in the good fats and low in saturated fat.
Did you know that Oishi has been around for the past five decades? It was during the tumultuous 1970s when Oishi Prawn Crackers, the brand’s foremost product, hit the market. Together with Kirei Shrimp Crackers, Oishi become a byword and surefire hit among fun snacks. Both are made with real shrimps to capture that authentic and inimitable seafood taste.
But I guess the need for more yummy-tasting snacks on the market caused the brand to grow its product line. Oishi’s range of products has dramatically expanded over the years. With a dash of creativity and innovation, new products were introduced that carry with them a more daring twist on traditional fun snacks.
The vegetarian in me savored the two flavors of Oishi Marty’s Cracklin’ Vegetarian Chicharon, spicy and salted. I understand that these veggie snacks are made with dehydrated green peas as its primary ingredient.
Other noted product innovations include Oishi’s Potato Fries that capture the rich goodness of well-loved French fries in a convenient pouch; Oishi Pillows, which are yummy chocolate wafers and, of course, my new favorite is the Oishi Sponge Cappuccino flavor, which I wish would come in refillable bags soon. Meantime, the Oishi Wafu in orange is the perfect blend of citrus and wafer in one. Today, the Oishi product line currently has over 40 brands of savory snacks, cereals, nuts and popcorn, biscuits, cookies, and juice. Snacks make my day better all the time. Thank yumminess for the Oishi boxes of snack perfection.
Oh, wow, and how.
How well do you know Oishi?
Liwayway Marketing Corp. is the company behind the Oishi brands of snacks and drinks. It started in 1946 repacking coffee and starch. Liwayway Gawgaw, once ubiquitous in Filipino households, can still be found on supermarket shelves today.
Liwayway ventured into snack foods in 1974 with Oishi Prawn Crackers and Kirei Shrimp Flakes. They were made with Japanese technology and recipes, hence their Japanese brand names. “Oishi” (or “oishii”) means delicious, while “kirei” means beautiful. The fresh shrimps from which each cracker is made give the snacks that robust shrimp taste.
Oishi snacks are still available in the popular P1 packs that kids can easily buy from their neighborhood sari-sari stores. Each “piso pack” receives the same care and attention as the bigger packs.
Many Oishi products were such huge hits that groceries and stores would fight over the available supply. Some supermarkets even limited how much each buyer could get, so that more shoppers could buy. One store sign said, “Bread Pan, 10 pcs. only per person.” And several stores had signs saying, “Walang Pillows ngayong araw.”