Why Are Calbee Chips Japan's Favorite Snack Brand?
Calbee snacks are so good that their popularity grew all the way from Japan to the United States. But why did this happen so quickly? Find out how the brand rose to global stardom in this post. You will also learn why so many people love Calbee’s most popular products, including the potato chips and shrimp chips.
The Rise of Calbee
In 1949, Takashi Matsuo founded Matsuo Food Processing, the company that would later become Calbee. The first product he launched was called Calbee Caramel. This product became so popular that the company was renamed Calbee in 1955. The “cal” in the name represented calcium and the “bee” stood for Vitamin B1, a reflection of the company’s dedication to creating healthy food products in Japan.
In 1964, Calbee launched Kappa Ebisen, a pack of shrimp chips that became one of their biggest mainstays to date. Japanese people loved it so much that approximately two years later, the snack manufacturer began to export the shrimp chips overseas. Hawaii and several Southeast Asian countries were the first to welcome Calbee chips across their borders. North America followed suit in 1967. What followed was a half decade of rapid domestic expansion and overseas exportation. Poised to secure a large chunk of the North American market, Calbee established its first overseas subsidiary in Buena Park, California, in 1970. This came with a new manufacturing plant for producing chips in the United States.
From 1975 to 2009, the company underwent a series of structural reforms and new product launches. They made serious forays into the cereal and potato chip markets. They even entered an alliance with PepsiCo to absorb Japan’s branch of snack food giant, Frito-Lay. By the end of the 2010s, Calbee had successfully expanded its overseas venture to Korea, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom, cementing its place as a dominant force in the global snack industry.
Calbee Chips: Japan’s Crunchy Delight
Calbee is widely known for its wide range of potato chips with Asian-inspired flavors. The company entered the potato chip business in the 1970s, finding a niche for itself among lovers of light savory snacks. The following is an overview of the popular Calbee potato chips released:
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Classic Potato Chips: Calbee marked their full-out entry into the potato chip business with the release of the classic Calbee Potato Chips: Lightly Salted in 1975. Today, the flavor and packaging of the original version have been significantly upgraded. It now has over 15 different variations, including Consomme Punch, Seaweed Salt, Fortune Butter, Soy Sauce, and Chicken Soup.
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Potato Chips Crisps: Released in 2016 as a crispier version of its predecessors, this brand also has salted and consomme versions. For an extra crispy texture, dried potatoes are crushed, molded, and fried.
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Kataage Potato: The Japanese word “kataage” means "hard-fried” in English, which is a testament to the slow cooking involved in its manufacturing process. There are about 20 Kataage Potato variants, including Lightly Salted, Edamame, Seaweed, Soy Sauce, Hida Miso, and Seaweed.
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Potato Chips The Atsugiri: The term “atsugiri” refers to the “thick slices” used to make these crinkle-cut potato chips. Depending on the type, this product line is flavored with salt, seaweed, or consomme.
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Super Thin Potato and Thin Potato: This one is for anyone looking for something lighter than regular Calbee chips. The “super thin” versions are lighter than the regular “thin” variants. Flavors include cheese, salt, and honey butter.
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Potato Deluxe: This version has three times the thickness of the classic chips. It’s even thicker than the atsugiri chips. You can find it in salt, black pepper, and mayonnaise flavors.
The Iconic Calbee Shrimp Chips
We can’t talk about Calbee’s legacy without exploring one of its most famous products, shrimp chips. The chips were first released in Japan in 1964, under the name “Kappa Ebisen.” When they were exported to the United States a few years later, they became known as Calbee Shrimp Chips.
A Fusion of Flavor and Nutrition
The product consists of fresh shrimp coated with wheat-based dough. It contains cornstarch, salt, sugar, and Asian seasonings. By using real shrimp and light salt, these chips make highly nutritious snacks. The savory taste, crisp texture, and umami-rich flavor of the shrimp make it a must-try for any snack lover. The product also comes in a number of different varieties depending on the market it was made to serve. Calbee Shrimp Chips in North America have flavors like Yuzu Pepper, and Hot Garlic. You can get all of these Asian-inspired flavors and more at Bokksu Market.
Featured JagaRico: The Portable Potato Stick Sensation
In 1995, Calbee announced the release of a new product known as JagaRico. It was made of deep-fried steamed potatoes. The chips had a lot of crunchiness on the outside and some crispiness inside, creating a delightful contrast with each bite. Unlike other Calbee products that were in the shape of regular chips, JagaRico chips had a unique stick form. They were placed in a convenient and portable cup container, becoming one of the first brands to use that kind of packaging. There are about 20 different JagaRico flavors currently available on the market. These flavors range from typical ingredients like Double Cheese to authentic Japanese ingredients such as Hokkaido Butter and Umami Seaweed. Visit Bokksu Market to find both the original JagaRico flavors and the more unique flavor variations.
Bokksu is not responsible for the accuracy of the products’ nutritional or allergen information. Warning: California’s Proposition 65 may be in effect. For more information,visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. Some Bokksu Market products are produced overseas and may have a Production Date printed on the packaging, rather than a Best Buy Date as is standard in North America. If your product appears expired, do not be alarmed! This is most likely the Production Date. All items have been double checked to ensure they are not expired and safe to eat.
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Honey Butter Chips: A Sweet and Savory Treat
Calbee's Honey Butter Chips are one of the most popular products in the potato chip series. A unique blend of sweet honey and savory butter flavors, this product was created for South Korea. However, you can get it on Bokksu Market today. The Honey Butter Chips are the result of Calbee’s joint venture with South Korean confectionery and food company, Hatai, in 2011. It contained parsley, butter powder, soybean, milk, cheese, and honey powder.
The Honey-Butter Craze
It was released in 2014, and thanks to viral marketing on social networks as well as its exceptional taste, it became so popular that a trend called Honey-Butter Craze was created in South Korea. Many K-pop stars also endorsed the products. Due to extraordinary demand, Haitai-Calbee temporarily suspended supply of the snacks, leading to a nation-wide scarcity of the product. Many stores had to place customers on waiting lists for Honey Butter Chips and some limited their sales to one pack per person. There was even an app for tracking and hunting down available Honey Butter Chips in nearby stores.
Pushing the Boundaries of Snacking
The stakeholders at Calbee are driven by a desire to continuously create innovative products and business practices. To achieve such feats, they rely on analytics from marketing surveys to create products that cater to evolving consumer tastes. A good example is the ideology behind the creation of the JagaRico flagship brand. The company discovered that consumers wanted “a snack for outdoor consumption” and proceeded to give them exactly that.
Calbee Chips Across the World
Calbee has established a global supply chain that allows them to create, sell, and distribute products in the following countries:
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The United Kingdom
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China
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Hong Kong
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South Korea
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Thailand
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Singapore
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Indonesia
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The United States
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Australia
The company has subsidiaries in a few of these regions, such as the U.S. and the U.K., and joint ventures in others. Local flavors in some of these regions are adapted through a development process that involves local market research to discover consumer needs, market conditions, and other vital factors.
Unique Japanese Flavors vs. Global Offerings
Despite the fact that Calbee makes and distributes Asian-inspired flavors globally, there are still notable distinctions between Calbee chips available in Japan and those offered in other countries. For one, global offerings tend to have flavors made with ingredients that are popular in Asian cuisine, such as wasabi, garlic, seaweed, and yuzu. On the other hand, Japanese flavors are made with ingredients that replicate the tastes of popular dishes in Asia, such as okonomiyaki, takoyaki, and mentaiko. The Japanese flavors also use more regional elements in some of their products, including soy sauce from Kyushu, Kansai dashi, and Setouchi lemon.
Finding Calbee Chips: A Guide for Snack Enthusiasts
Bokkus Market is the best place to purchase all kinds of Calbee chips, including Potato Chips, Shrimp Chips, JagaRico, and Jagabee. Our Asian snacks category allows you to easily filter by brand (Calbee) and explore all of the available offerings. We are constantly updating our collection so feel free to check every week for new flavors. With over 50% of the Japanese snack market under their belt, Calbee has brought their crunchy goodness to the rest of the world. Their use of traditional flavors and modern production processes has made them one of the biggest multinational snack brands on the planet. Choose from their wide range of snack items and discover why we love them so much.
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