Calbee’s Asian-inspired flavors aims to drive US snack innovation

As Asian-inspired snacks continue to boom in the US, Calbee is positioning itself at the forefront of the trend, leaning into Japanese, Thai and Korean flavors, explains Melanie Plaz, VP of marketing for Calbee. “The growth for us has been fueled because we’ve been leaning into what makes Calbee really unique, which is both Asian flavors and being very authentic to who we are, high quality ingredients and products that have real cultural credibility,” Plaz said. Products like shrimp chips and takoyaki balls, a popular Japanese street food made with grilled flour batter and octopus, illustrate the brand’s approach. Plaz noted that shrimp chips “continue to benefit from this surge in curiosity from our youngest consumer for global flavors. Consumers are wanting to be more adventurous, and they want to experience new places and new cultures through food.” Meanwhile, takoyaki balls “tap into a different space, which is a very fun, nostalgic, kind of street food experience that…is resonating with these younger consumers that are looking for something different, for novelty," she said. To guide product development, Calbee relies on a mix of formal research and social listening. “Whatever is emerging now, it’s going to be mainstream in the next three years. So we start working on that right away…we are also consumers, so we’re also bringing those insights into the office every day,” she said. Looking ahead to 2026, the focus remains on adventurous, culturally-inspired flavors. “Consumers are wanting to experience new cultures and new flavors…It’s understanding what’s the mix of flavors that we’re going to bring together with, what’s the form that’s also familiar to the US consumer, so that we are able to enable that experience that they’re looking for,” Plaz said. When evaluating which products to scale, Calbee conducts a “very robust assessment” to “understand, what are the flavors that we can better develop” to better resonate with its consumers. A recent example is the launch of Asian-style chips, featuring flavors like yellow curry and Chinese hot pot, designed to bring familiar US snack formats together with authentic Asian cuisine. Calbee also aims to balance authenticity with accessibility for its flavors and formats. “The US consumer is now getting exposed to these flavors…For the mainstream consumer, they’re looking for adventurous and experiential snacking and that’s what we’re trying to bring through, through our authenticity and our heritage,” Plaz said. She added that the brand strategically invites consumers from more familiar Asian flavors to more authentic offerings, like shrimp chips, through a carefully curated brand portfolio. Innovation is supported by Calbee’s US R&D center , which was built earlier this year in Madera, Calif. Plaz described it as “a game changer…It dramatically shortens the development cycle. It also includes collaboration between R&D and marketing and sales. We get together in that R&D center and do trials and provide live feedback and adjust formulations and adjust flavors in the moment to…get the best product possible.” Looking beyond the most familiar Asian cuisines, Calbee is exploring snacks inspired by less represented regions. “As we continue to grow, we’re looking into different spaces, different Asian cultures, to bring to the US as well, and that’s part of our innovation portfolio and the roadmap in the future,” Plaz said. For Calbee, the mission is about growth, heritage and exposing US consumers to new cultural experiences, she added.