Lito Chua’s success story is a classic “sariling sikap” tale.
He could very well have been the male counterpart of Annie Batungbakal—literally opening the doors of his snack food firm in the morning, loading the chichiria stock for delivery, driving the delivery van, offloading products in various distribution sites and manning the bodega in the evening.
The only thing he did not do back then was managing the finances of the company—a task that was relegated to his very able wife, Melissa.
“I am not successful yet,” Chua said with sincere shyness of someone who has kept a low-profile for 16 years now, despite having over 150 products under Yan Yan International Inc., the company he established.
“I just really like to eat snacks. I think we Filipinos in general love our chichiria,” he said.
Since Yan Yan began operations in 2003, it has produced products that cater to a wide range of customer base—from those who buy small chichiria sachets in sari-sari and various convenience stores to those who can afford bulk purchases from SM or Puregold.
These include brands such as Lumpia Shanghai, Cheep Chips, Koolers and Quench Juice drinks, King Corn, Karoke, Harry Chocolate, Wackie corn chips and Melles Butter Cheese Loaf breads, among others.
“We pioneered salted egg corn chips through our Wackie brand. Other brands were doing salted egg potato chips or mushroom chips, but for most Filipinos, we grew up snacking on corn chips,” Chua said.
Aside from salted egg corn chips, Wackie also comes in cheese, BBQ, hot chili, wasabi and turkey variants—flavors that were inspired by Chua’s various trips abroad.
“Filipinos’ taste has evolved. We are now more adventurous as we became exposed to other cultures and dishes,” he said.
“And for Yan Yan, we never stop learning and instead continue improving our products—from research and development, packaging and pricing. We always do our best to give our customers what they need and want,” he said.
This commitment to producing snacks that are not only delicious but healthy as well propelled Chua’s company to grow over the years.
Yan Yan now has several manufacturing plants—two in Caloocan, one in Manila, one in Cagayan de Oro, one in Cebu and two in China.
Chua also exports his products to Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Canada, among others, and plans to expand his market reach to the Middle East where more than a million Filipino workers are deployed.
He is also looking at the possibility of exporting mango jam, dried mangoes, banana chips and cassava chips.
“Our ingredients are of the finest quality, and our processes meet the highest international standards. We have shown, and are continuing to show, what Filipino snack foods and beverages can do for the Filipino market, and it is high time the rest of the world enjoy the same experience,” Chua said.