Meet the Team Behind Tochi Snacks
Tochi Snacks is known for their Singapore Salted Egg Yolk potato chips, popcorn, fish crips, and more.
Keep an eye out for their Singapore Salted Egg Yolk popcorn in our Southeast Snack boxes this summer!
Follow Tochi Snacks on social media:
IG: @tochisnacks
Facebook: @tochisnacksUSA
The Tochi Snacks Team
Ian Seah, Cofounder
Food has always been in my DNA. Growing up in Singapore, the melting pot of both western and asian cuisine, there was no shortage of unique and amazing food and flavors. Coming from a Peranakan heritage, a mish-mesh of Malay and Chinese culture, my palate was fortuitously exposed to a wide range of flavors through the different dishes my grandmother used to prepare. One dish that particularly stood out, was salted egg crab- my grandmother would make this smooth golden salted egg yolk sauce that was perfectly salty, sweet, and bursting with umami.
Fast forward to today, I still have the same appreciation for such amazing flavors, but wanted a version that would not be terrible for my health. Additionally, I wanted to create an experience that was accessible to the uninitiated, yet something powerful enough to create a sense of nostalgia to those already familiar with the flavor. Focusing on using high quality ingredients, no preservatives and minimal food processing, the salted egg chip was born after testing many iterations on friends and family. Salted egg chips is just the start; it is my dream to create accessible, nutritious and non-processed version of traditional asian flavors for my own enjoyment (selfishly) and so that others too, can be blown away by the amazing flavors that I grew up with.
Marc Seah, Cofounder
Born and raised in a matriarchal family, my grandmother ruled the kitchen with an iron fist. Unfortunately, the food that came out of that kitchen was a luxury I would only later learn I had taken for granted. As I grew older, I would finally appreciate the countless hours and insurmountable effort she toiled to bring us delicious yet nutritious meals. I did not realize it at the time, but this home cooked food became the glue that bonded the whole family.
And that is my ambition, to create great tasting snacks that are not only wholesome and nourishing, but also serves to be the anchor over which friends and families build lasting relationships.
Outside of the grind, you can find me sweating it out at a workout studio, dancing to some deep house or getting owned in some battle royale.
Dina Shi, Cofounder
I was born in Beijing, but immigrated to the U.S. when I was 8. I grew up in busy & bustling NYC, surrounded by arguably the world’s most decorated destination for food and culture. From the small mom&pop dumpling shop hidden in Chinatown I frequented for the best dollar’s worth of pork & chive dumplings, to the most authentic brick oven pizza deep down in the heart of Brooklyn, this city had it all, and I loved everything about it.
I loved it so much, I never left! After finishing my undergraduate degree at Columbia, and spending 5 years on Wall Street, I finally found the courage to leave the comfort of my corporate career to do what I’d always wanted to do: start my own food business!
I drew my inspiration from a soul-searching trip to southeast Asia, and being blown away by a whole new world of cuisines & culture. After returning home, I knew I needed to find a way to share the amazing new flavors and discoveries from my travels with everyone here in the U.S. From there on, Tochi was born!
My vision for Tochi is to be a platform where we can share unique & hyperlocal flavors from Asia and introduce them through everyone’s favorite means: snacks! In doing so, we wanted to make sure we retain the authenticity of the flavor by using only the best ingredients possible, refraining from preservatives and artificial additives. We launched our first product line, featuring the salted egg flavor from Singapore in 2019, and it’s been a huge hit since! Currently, my team and I are hard at work on our next hyperlocal flavor line which we expect to announce later this year…stay tuned!
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Thank you so much Dina and the team at Tochi Snacks for sharing their story with us! Tuk Tuk Box is proud to exclusively feature Southeast Asian ingredients and include refugee, migrant, and generational stories in every box.
If you or someone you know wants to share their story with us, send us an email: hello@tuktukbox.com. Stay tuned for future stories and the newest products by subscribing to our mailing list.
