Snack Company Rebrands as ‘Asian American’, Sales Increase By 54%

A snack company in Berkeley, California saw a 54% surge in total revenues in the year leading up to its rebranding as “Asian American,” which comes with fresh marketing initiatives to highlight its reformed identity.

Dang Foods, founded by brothers Vincent and Andrew Kitirattragarn in 2012, previously endorsed itself as “Modern Asian” to describe its lines of innovative snacks with flavors coming from East and Southeast Asia.

Andrew (left) and Vincent (right) Kitirattragarn in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Image via Dang Foods

However, Vincent and Andrew eventually realized that “Modern Asian” sounded more apologetic than proud of their Asian American heritage.

The brothers — who lived between Bangkok and New York City growing up — have parents who were born in Thailand, while their grandparents came from China.

The Kitirattragarn brothers as children. Image via Dang Foods

To amplify its rebranding, Dang Foods introduced a new packaging that features Thai characters, as well as a photo of Vincent and Andrew as children. It also includes a red dot inspired by the Japanese flag.

“If you look at our current packaging, we definitely appeal to American audiences. We never just want to target Asians,” said Vincent, according to Forbes.

New look, same Dang good taste. pic.twitter.com/LBYUnF1ssC

— Dang Foods (@DangFoods) February 19, 2020

Dang Foods now sells in 13,000 stores all over the U.S. The company also posted a 54% increase in total revenues in 2019 from 2018.

This success is largely due to their keto-friendly Dang bar — available in Asian-inspired flavors such as cardamom chai, lemon matcha, toasted coconut and the new peanut butter (from peanut satay dipping sauces) — which became the top-selling bar in Whole Foods Market last year, according to FoodNavigator-USA.com. Additionally, the company takes pride in sweetening its bars with stevia.

Aside from its new Peanut Butter Dang Bar, the company also launched an additional flavor for each of its two other product lines: the Tropical Mango Coconut Chips and the Toasted Sesame Thai Rice Chips.

The new coconut chips are mature Thai coconuts flavored with tropical mango, while the new rice chips — inspired by the Northern Thai street food — are made of crunchy Thai rice grains.

“As an Asian-American entrepreneur, I am working to shift the reputation of Asian snack food from exotic and different to healthy and aspirational; one that Asians across the U.S. are proud to share with friends,” Vincent said in a press release.

Dang Foods products are available in Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, Amazon and the company’s official website.

Feature Images via Dang Foods (left, right)

The post Snack Company Rebrands as ‘Asian American’, Sales Increase By 54% appeared first on NextShark.

Contributer : NextShark