Production of Oishi Prawn Crackers

Company Profile:

Liwayway Holdings Company Limited, doing business as Oishi, is a snack company based
in the Philippines. As of 2018, it is headed by Carlos Chan and its headquarters are currently in
Pasay Metro Manila. Oishi started as Liwayway in 1946 and was originally a family owned corn
starch and coffee repacking business. In addition, with distributing starch, the company was also
distributing basic commodities, coffee, and confectionaries. It was incorporated as the Liwayway
Markeing Corporation in 1966.

Brothers Manuel and Carlos Chan at that time were behind the company while their brother
Ben is the founder of Bench, a popular clothing brand in the Philippines. The company began
distributing Oishi prawn crackers and Kirei yummy flakes in 1974. The company claims to have
used technology from Japan to make those products.

Carlos Chan began prospecting on the expansion of Oishi to China in 1984, following the
liberalization of the Chinese economy under Deng Xiaoping starting on 1978. The company’s
China division established in 1993, is headquartered in Qingpu District, Shanghai. To improve
distribution in China, the company established a factory network there. Oishi also established a
presence in Vietnam in 1997 and Myanmar in 1999. In 2006, factories were opened in Indonesia
and Thailand.

Known in China as Oishi Shanhaojia, which means excellent, top grade and hish quality,
Oishi has become one of the most widely respected and recognized brands, often being mistaken
as a brand from Hongkong or Shanghai. In 1998, for his contributions to shanghai, Carlos Chan
received a Magnolia Gold Award, a price that recognizes expats who contribute to Shanghai’s
development. In 2005, the city of Shanghai made Carlos an honorary citizen, and Oishi
Shanghaojia was declared a Shanghai famous brand the following year. In august 2013, Carlos
Chan with a project wealth of $500 million, was 25th on the month’s Forbes Philippines Rich List.
He was 21st in 2018.

Manufacturing Process of Oishi Prawn Crackers:

 Oishi prawn crackers, as the name suggests, its main raw material is shrimp or prawn. Other
important raw materials include wheat, tapioca starch, and corn starch.

The manufacturing starts with the preparation of the raw materials. After the preparation,
the raw materials are mixed and kneaded into a dough. The shrimp content of this dough gives its
rich prawn flavor. The next step is forming dough sheets which is done by passing the kneaded
dough into rollers and after which, the sheets are allowed to cool down. After cooling, the sheets
are aged for some hours. After the ageing, the sheets are then cut into strips. After cutting, the
strips brought to a conveyor and are allowed to pass through two steps of drying processes. After
the drying process, the strips are now brought inside an oven where they are roasted into the desired
texture as prawn crackers. To achieve the desired additional flavor, the roasted crackers are
seasoned inside a rotary drum which is also fed with flavor slurries. inside this drum, the crackers
are tumbled for some time in order to mix them well. Now that they have achieved the required
flavor, the seasoned crackers are now brought to the packaging are. Here, the crackers are brought
inside an automated packaging machine where they are fitted into pouches and are then completely
sealed and labeled. In order to make sure that all the products are properly sealed, the pouches are
properly inspected. If assured that there are no more problems, the final products would then be
brought into the warehouses waiting to be delivered to the markets where we buy them.