Taking over the reins and stepping into his father's shoes

A father's foresight

Like his father, Chan has been a longtime resident of Shanghai. He first started helping with the family business in China in 1996. By early next year, the 44-year-old would have spent more time in Shanghai than in his home country.

"Shanghai is my second home," said Chan, who is presently the president and chief executive officer of Liwayway, China.

In 1975, the Chan family started producing prawn crackers using Japanese technology and hence chose the Japanese term "Oishi", which means "delicious", as the brand name. When it came to expanding the business, Carlos had his eyes set on Shanghai.

"My father was very interested in Shanghai because he frequently watched Chinese movies during his growing-up years. Those movies were mostly made in Shanghai," said Chan.

"He always told us that Shanghai would one day be glorious again. I still remember him telling me that I would be going to Shanghai after my graduation."

Chan said that his father had as early as 1984 started planning for an expansion project in China. Shanghai was one of the cities he visited the most. In 1993, when China opened the gates to foreign investment, the company wasted no time in making its entry.

The first step in the expansion was establishing joint ventures with two State-owned Shanghai food processing plants as this allowed the company to hit the ground running.

By 1996, Oishi was declared a "Shanghai famous brand". Over the past two decades, the company has never lost its spot among the top five snack food brands in China.