Indonesia-born Singaporean Irvin Gunawan opened his own restaurant in Singapore in 2009.

People loved their Salted Egg Crab. But in 2014, his restaurant was struggling to survive. They kept launching experiment after experiment to save the restaurant. It wasn’t working.

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Until one day, they started selling packaged snacks—salted egg fish skin and potato chips.

They didn’t know it then, but they just created a viral snack that would hit global shelves in just a few years. This is the story of IRVINS, the Salted Egg snack that everyone takes home after a trip to Singapore.

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👋🏼 The founder story

Irvin went on a food tour to Europe and Japan and wanted to open a chocolate bar business.

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After returning to Singapore, he realized that the chocolate bar business was too tough, so he pivoted to opening an Indonesian food restaurant in Singapore instead.

In 2009, he started a live seafood restaurant. They were flooded with customers that wanted their specialty salted crab dish which was also affordable.

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😥 From hero to zero

But in 2014, they had to move the restaurant because rent increased by 2x. The problem? The new location had practically zero foot traffic, and they were struggling to survive.

They made pivot after pivot that year, including catering services, pre-packed meals for students, and more. Anything to bring up revenue and stay alive!

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🦀 Saving the company

One day, Irvin and his chef had a new idea. Since they were known for their Salted Egg Crab, why not make salted egg snacks?

So, they sautéed potato chips and fish skin in their signature salted egg sauce. And it was a hit!

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From practically zero foot traffic, they now had lines that spread out across the block. It was so popular that the snacks flew off the shelves.

Irvin brought his brothers, Ircahn and Ivan (current COO and CFO) into the business, and they started doing pop-ups in Singapore.

There would be hour-long lines for the snacks, and they’d sell out two hours after opening the pop-ups.

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🇸🇬 New beginnings

By 2014, the brothers opened their first IRVINS snack store at a Singaporean mall and closed down their restaurant business. IRVINS became the must-have snack and everyone’s favorite souvenir when they’d come home from Singapore.

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After 6 years, IRVINS already expanded to physical stores across Singapore and international markets like Hong Kong and the Philippines.

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💨 Fast forward to 2020

While they faced setbacks during the pandemic, it was a blessing in disguise. Revenue was slashed by over 50% overnight and they had to close their stores.

Customers couldn’t get their IRVINS fix because the company was purely D2C, only selling on their website and stores.

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This forced IRVINS to start working with external retail partners locally. They worked with retail partners like 7-Eleven and Cold Storage to sell their snacks.

It also supercharged their global expansion. That year, they pushed for deeper international expansion through distributors that brought IRVINS around the world.

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🌏  From Singapore to the world

Today, IRVINS is available in 20+ countries globally at physical stores, distributors, and their online store. From Costco in the US to Don Quijote in Japan, you’ll find them there.

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They’ve also gone beyond just salted egg snacks. They now have truffle, black pepper, and even a Salted Egg instant noodle product made with Nissin!