Saeukkang (; also called Prawn cracker) is a snack produced by South Korean company Nongshim since 1971. Around 90g of prawn crackers (around 4-5 sheets) are packaged in parchment paper.[A method that does not fry with oil, but fries with heated salt]
History
Name
'Saeu' translates to shrimp in Korean. When
Nongshim President
Shin Choon-ho was looking for an appropriate name for the shrimp snack, he got an idea from his daughter mispronouncing
Arirang (), pronouncing it 'Arikkang' ().
Development
The Nongshim company got ideas from the popular Japanese snack
Kappa Ebisen made by Calbee. Nongshim spent more than a year attempting to reverse engineer the
Kappa Ebisen snack and had particular difficulty with finding an appropriate temperature to cook the product. The company used large amounts of
flour and
shrimp during this process, using around 360 tons of flour.
Sales
Using the slogan
We make our foods using our technology, Saeukkang was highly successful upon release and helped Nongshim, which previously had a low market share, to grow into what is now among the largest food and beverage companies in South Korea. Many trucks from all around South Korea traveled to Nongshim's factory in
Daebang-dong to buy Saeukkang. Only three months after the initial release, Nongshim's sales had already increased by 350%. With their increased income, Nongshim was able to release other successful snacks: Banana Kick in 1978, Honey Twist Snack in 1979, and Potato Chip in 1980. As of 2013, Saeukkang's sales exceeded 7.5 billion packages. Saeukkang can now be found in 76 countries in stores like
Walmart in the United States
and
Taobao in China.
Variants
Nongshim produces different variants of Saeukkang. Other than the standard package (90g), the company introduced different sizes of Saeukkang:
-
Mini Saeukkang (30g)
-
Deluxe Saeukkang (400g).
Nongshim also offers Saeukkang in different flavors:
-
Spicy Saeukkang
-
Rice Saeukkang
-
Sweet & Sour Chicken Saeukkang
Marketing
TV CF
Lee Jong-suk, a Korean actor and model advertises Saeukkang
[1].
Since the initial release of the snack, it has been advertised with the slogan "손이 가요~ 손이 가~새우깡에 손이 가요" (loosely translated as "Grab some here, grab some there. Grab Saeukkang anywhere".
Fan Clubs
There are about 100 Saeukkang fan clubs in Korea's largest web portal,
Naver, consisting of both younger and older generations.
Criticism
-
In 2005, criticism rose as the snack's shape and packaging looked similar to the Japanese snack Kappa Ebisen.
-
In 2008, there was a report from a consumer that a mouse's head was found in one of Saeukkang's packaging. However, Nongshim not only concealed the report for a month before a formal investigation from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea(MFDS) began but also the company did not recall their product.
-
In 2010, rice worms were found in Saeukkang, and MFDS drew a conclusion that rice worms were not from product production, but they were from processes of distribution to retail stores.
-
In 2019, Nongshim initially planned to stop using shrimp from Gunsan for the production of Saeukkang due to sea pollution in Korea. As the company had been using shrimp from both the United States and South Korea, the company claimed that the Gunsan shrimp quality had decreased since 48 years ago.
See also
External links
