đł Chris Hwang: From Law Books to Salted Egg Dreams â The Story of a Singaporean Snack Empire
In the bustling heart of Singapore, a city known for its gleaming skyline and world-class cuisine, a young man once stood at a crossroads that would redefine his destiny. His name was Chris Hwang. At the time, he was a 23-year-old law student, toeing the traditional path lined with textbooks, internships, and long nights of legal debate. But in his heart, something stirredâsomething that smelled not of justice and courtrooms, but of salted egg yolk and spice.
This is the story of how Chris Hwang walked away from convention to chase a flavor, and in doing so, built one of the most iconic snack brands Asia has ever seenâThe Golden Duck.
đ The Law Student with a Different Hunger
Chris wasnât someone who lacked ambition. In fact, from a young age, he had been fiercely determined. He excelled in academics, represented Singapore in national-level bowling competitions, and seemed perfectly on track to become a successful lawyer. But even amidst his achievements, there lingered a curiosityâa fascination with food, culture, and innovation. He admired the pulse of the hawker stalls and the complexity of Singaporean flavors, and somewhere deep down, he began to ask: “What if I could package that magic and send it around the world?”
He shared this thought with a close friend, Jonathan Shen. The two clicked instantly over a shared dream of creating something bold, something flavorful, something… snackable.
đ§âđł A Crunchy Idea is Born
One night, as they stood in Chris’s small kitchen trying out salted egg recipes, they hit goldâfiguratively and literally. Salted egg yolk chips. Crispy, rich, slightly sweet and spicy, and absolutely addictive. At the time, salted egg wasnât yet a global craze. It was still deeply rooted in Asian culinary traditionsâseen in mooncakes, prawns, and custard bunsâbut the idea of turning it into a gourmet snack chip? That was radical.
They decided to take the plunge.
In 2015, armed with only passion, a recipe, and $15,000 scraped together from savings and loans, Chris and Jonathan launched The Golden Duck. No factories. No retail stores. Just ambition and bags of salted egg yolk chips sold from a humble booth at Suntec City.
What happened next surprised even them.
đ Lines, Likes, and Viral Buzz
People didnât just like The Golden Duckâs salted egg chipsâthey loved them. Lines formed before the stall opened. Customers bought not one or two but ten bags at a time. Social media exploded with photos and rave reviews.
Overnight, the booth became a sensation. But that was just the beginning. Chris wasnât just selling chips; he was selling a storyâof modern Asia, of tradition reimagined, of indulgence that made people feel proud of their cultural identity.
The duo worked around the clock. From sourcing the right duck eggs to ensuring every batch was crispy, golden, and coated just right, Chris obsessed over the product. He believed people didnât just deserve good snacksâthey deserved great ones.
đ From One Booth to 3,000 Stores
Within a few short years, The Golden Duck had outgrown its pop-up roots. Demand poured in from across Asia. Soon, bags were flying off shelves in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, and beyond. Tourists began taking Golden Duck bags back home as souvenirs, and Chris knew it was time to expand strategically.
He set up supply chains, streamlined manufacturing, and built a team of food technologists to constantly innovate. The product line grew beyond salted egg chips. There was salted egg fish skin. Then came chili crab seaweed tempura. Mala hot pot chips. Each flavor crafted with precision, each bag a passport to Asian street food.
By 2025, The Golden Duck was in over 3,000 stores across 20+ countriesâand it all began in a kitchen the size of a closet.
đ„ The Pandemic Storm
No entrepreneurial journey is without storms, and in 2020, the world changed.
COVID-19 devastated the tourism industry, one of The Golden Duckâs major revenue streams. Airport stores closed. Logistics stalled. Sales plummeted. The dream now stood on the edge of collapse.
Chris didnât panicâbut he did hurt. He made heartbreaking decisions. Downsizing the team from 200 to 120. Selling personal assets to pay salaries. Putting his own comfort second to keep the dream alive. But through it all, he stayed focused.
He turned inwardâto the community. To his team. To innovation.
đĄ Reinvention and Resilience
Chris and his team doubled down on e-commerce. They built a stronger online presence, launched subscription snack boxes, and tapped into food influencers. They also focused on local markets to reduce dependency on tourism.
Even in crisis, Chrisâs curiosity never faded. He began developing snacks tailored for Western palatesâsour cream & Sriracha, truffle wagyu, and Himalayan pink salt. The goal? Crack the U.S. market. And not just as an âAsian snack brand,â but as a global gourmet powerhouse.
Chris wanted The Golden Duck to be in every pantryânext to Pringles, Doritos, and Laysâbut with a story that felt richer, deeper, and unapologetically bold.
đ The Man Behind the Brand
Despite his success, Chris remains grounded. He doesnât see himself as a mogul, but as a storyteller. He speaks often about the importance of listeningâto your customers, your team, your intuition. He credits his success not to brilliance, but to discipline and tasteâthe discipline to never cut corners, and the taste to know what customers will crave before they even know it.
He also champions young entrepreneurs. He tells them: “You donât need a fancy degree to build something meaningful. What you need is conviction, grit, and the guts to fail.”
Today, The Golden Duck isnât just a snackâitâs a symbol of daring to dream differently.
đź The Future is Flavored
As 2025 unfolds, Chris Hwang is looking toward new frontiers. The Golden Duck is expanding into the United States with bold flavors designed for adventurous American palates. There are talks of collaborations with celebrity chefs, limited-edition lines, and even Golden Duck-themed experiential stores.
But even as the brand grows, Chris still walks into the kitchen, still tastes every batch, and still remembers the night he chose flavor over fear.
đ„ One Egg at a Time
Chris Hwangâs story is not just about chips, or salted egg, or global expansion.
Itâs about the courage to quit law school at 23 because you believed in a snack.
Itâs about fighting through a global pandemic because your dream was too delicious to die.
Itâs about making every crunch count.
And most of allâitâs about knowing that sometimes, the best way to make a mark on the world⊠is to make a mess in the kitchen first.
đ¶ïž From Quiet Confidence to Crunchy Confidence
When Chris first stepped away from law school, it wasnât met with applause. In fact, many people around himâfriends, relatives, even well-meaning mentorsâwere concerned. âYouâre throwing away a stable future,â they said. âSnacks? Are you serious?â
But Chris was used to pressure. As a national bowler in his youth, he had learned how to stay composed in high-stakes situations. Bowling taught him rhythm, precision, and mental focusâtraits he would carry into entrepreneurship. Where others saw snacks, he saw a global opportunity wrapped in foil packaging.
And so, with every step into the unknown, Chris Hwang doubled down not just on product, but on purpose.
đ§Ș Crafting Snacks Like Fine Art
The Golden Duck was never just about tasty chips. For Chris, it was an edible canvasâwhere culture, science, and storytelling collided.
He and his co-founder didnât simply want to mimic traditional flavors. They wanted to elevate them. That meant researching regional cuisines, understanding umami balances, and hiring food technologists to help translate complex recipes like chili crab or mala hotpot into a chip format.
Chris once joked, âWeâre not a snack companyâweâre a flavor lab.â And that wasnât far from the truth.
He insisted on small-batch testing, quality ingredients, and maintaining flavor intensity with every bite. One of his biggest frustrations in the early days was inconsistency in texture. Some chips broke during shipping. Others absorbed too much oil. So they kept tweaking the machinery until they got it right. And once they didâthe feedback was ecstatic.
People werenât just buying snacks; they were experiencing Singapore, one crunch at a time.
đ The Cultural Export Nobody Expected
As The Golden Duckâs bags flew off shelves across Asia, something extraordinary happened: people outside the region started falling in love with the taste of Singapore.
Chris realized that food was his generationâs version of diplomacy. It was how culture traveled nowânot through textbooks or politics, but through taste buds.
Soon, orders started coming in from unlikely placesâDubai, Berlin, Tokyo, Johannesburg. Expat communities became unofficial ambassadors. Celebrities shared photos. Airlines placed bulk orders for in-flight snacks. Even Michelin-star chefs started reaching out to collaborate.
Chris saw his humble snack brand evolve into something moreâa movement. One that celebrated Asian identity with pride and modern flair.
đŻ Building a Brand That Talks Back
As much as Chris focused on flavor, he also knew that brands needed to have personality.
The Golden Duckâs packaging was quirky, cheeky, and sharp. The branding never felt generic. Every flavor came with a backstory. Every campaign leaned into curiosity. The language was playful, but never gimmicky. It spoke to millennials and Gen Z in a voice that felt like a friend rather than a corporation.
The logo, the duck mascot, even the color schemeâit was all carefully designed to stand out in a crowded market. And yet, the brand didnât scream for attention. It invited people to discover it.
Chris often said: âGreat brands donât chase youâthey charm you.â And that philosophy paid off.
đ The Crisis That Tested Everything
When the pandemic hit, Chris faced his darkest chapter. Airportsâa major distribution pointâshut down. Shipping costs tripled. Raw materials became difficult to procure. Worst of all, touristsâthe brandâs early championsâdisappeared overnight.
He had a choice: retreat or reinvent.
Chris chose the harder path. He trimmed expenses, moved fast on digital strategy, and diversified supply chains. He didnât sleep much. There were days when he questioned everything. But the one thing he never did was compromise on quality.
And when the dust settled, The Golden Duck wasnât just still standingâit was more agile, more innovative, and more connected to its audience than ever.
đ§âđ« Mentorship, Mistakes, and Moving Forward
As The Golden Duck matured, so did Chris. He began mentoring younger entrepreneurs. He opened up about his mistakesâearly packaging errors, misjudged market launches, cultural missteps in overseas branding. He never tried to paint a perfect picture.
âTransparency builds trust,â he said. âBoth with your customers and yourself.â
He started guest-lecturing at local universities. He joined panels on entrepreneurship, innovation, and food sustainability. He also quietly funded scholarships for students who wanted to pursue culinary arts but couldnât afford tuition.
Chris had gone from being a dropout to becoming a voice of credibilityâwithout ever chasing titles.
đ§ The Vision Beyond the Bag
Today, Chris sees The Golden Duck not just as a snack company, but as an experience brand. He envisions flagship stores where customers can taste-test new flavors, watch chip-making in action, and explore the history of Asian street food.
There are talks of expanding into sauces, instant noodles, even fusion dining pop-ups.
But perhaps most importantly, Chris wants to create a platform for flavor innovation across Southeast Asia. He dreams of investing in young culinary inventors, giving them a stage to share regional delicacies with a global audienceâjust as he once did with salted egg chips.
His ultimate goal? To build a âsnackverseââa digital and physical universe where food becomes both memory and adventure.
đŹ Quotes That Define Chris Hwang
A few quotes that embody his journey:
- âYou canât build a world-class brand with shortcuts. You need obsession.â
- âSnacks are serious business. Every bag is a handshake with your customer.â
- âFailure is not fallingâitâs stopping. Keep frying.â
- âOur generation doesnât want bland. We want boldâwith a story.â
đ A Golden Legacy, Still Unfolding
Itâs tempting to tie Chrisâs journey up with a neat bow. But the truth isâheâs just getting started.
The boy who dropped out of law school has built a company thatâs more than profitable. Itâs iconic. His story is told not in boardrooms or textbooks, but in every crinkle of foil, every crackle of flavor, every shared bag among friends.
Chris Hwang is proof that sometimes, the most powerful revolutions donât start in courtrooms or tech labs. They start in tiny kitchens, with a craving, a dream, and a duck.
And they grow, one crunchy bite at a time.
