Exotic Snack Guys, an international snack retail brand, has grown its roster of import locations to around 40 countries, including France, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, India, Sweden, and Taiwan. The company stocks familiar flavors such as apple, dark chocolate, and vanilla while also embracing lesser-known options like white peach, lychee, and Kobe beef. With this expansion, Exotic Snack Guys continues to enrich its current inventory's cultural diversity while also building its community of snack enthusiasts.
The company was founded by Zohaib Naman and his business partner Shafiq Rehman in late June of this year. The two noticed how trendy international snacks were with online audiences and how marketable they could be in high-traffic zones like New York and Toronto, and they believed they could bring the same engagement and intrigue to their Chicago area. Naman also recognizes the sentimental value that snacks can have for some people, and making them readily available in person and online has helped bring Exotic Snack Guys' community together.
Naman comments, "I was born in the Middle East myself. I remember walking into a Middle Eastern store and finding a candy I really liked growing up. It brought back a lot of memories for me. So, it's been good being able to do the same for other people and hearing their stories when they find candy they loved from their childhood."
Exotic Snack Guys has also opened special orders for customers looking for particular snacks. If a product a customer is looking for isn't currently in stock, the owners will track it down and order it for them. Naman remarks that this has been yet another way for them to discover new snacks as well and expand their roster.
With the popularity that the company has seen, Exotic Snack Guys has had to move its in-house operations to a new storage and distribution center in suburban Bensenville. The brand states how glad it is to have met so many people through this adventure and are also making plans to broaden its community.
Exotic Snack Guys hopes to have new locations opened in Milwaukee, Houston, Orlando, and Miami in the coming months, and the company is also working on importing from a total of 100 countries by the end of the year.
