On The Wild Side With: Food Migration

Inspired by a traditional Taiwanese snack, Ethan of Food Migration has created a line of bite sized treats perfect for tea lovers.

Where I came from, Taiwan, people enjoyed tea on daily basis. Traditionally, these type of snacks are often enjoyed with tea. As Chinese drink tea with no sugar or milk added, the taste of tea could sometime be dry (or astringent) and bitter. Little sweets like ChaNut serve perfectly in tea drinker’s mouth and balance out less wanted sensation with mild sweetness and nuttiness. That’s why we call it perfect snack of tea.

Food Migration’s brand most familiar to market customers is called ChaNut, which has a more meaningful connection to its purpose as a compliment to tea than some may realize.

Our brand name ChaNut is actually the combination of Chinese phonic of tea, “Cha” and English word “Nuts,” which we are hoping will catch the spirit of tea and deliver the message to our customers.

There are currently three lines of ChaNut creations. Depending on the flavour, their main ingredients range from peanuts, to pumpkin and black sesame seeds, all bound by malt syrup, giving them their distinct and unifying flavour.

It’s actually my mother’s recipe. She cracked the formula from the traditional snack, we have in Taiwan. My Mom, like most of the parents, disbarred all kinds of junky snack. As nut gaining its popularity in the recent years, she decided to make her own snack. I learned from her after she proudly shared it with me on my trip back home couple years ago. I did tweak the recipe a bit afterward, but the basic taste is inherited from my mother.

Ethan says he used to think inspiration to create new food products was like a sparkle, coming from nowhere and caused by many of happy coincidences. Now he says new flavours are first inspired by the familiarity of Taiwan recipes and are then given a Canadian twist.

We ask our friends and family from time to time and improve the product base their feedback as well, trying to find the taste that can relate to our community. I guess you can say the inspiration is from where I am from and where I live now, and its a combination of who we are.

With its current success, Food Migration is looking to further migrate its favourite foods into the Canadian market. Ethan says he hopes products will continue to perk customers interest.

Much like a friend sharing great stuff with each other, I am hoping Food Migration would be your foodie friend. We hope the customer to know that ChaNut is a great healthy nutty snack, a great product before or after work out, and most importantly its a snack they could enjoy in any given day.