There are many tasty Taiwan snacks but one in particular is bought as much for good luck as it is for eating!
The familiar green packet of Taiwan’s Kuai Kuai coconut butter corn puffs can be seen everywhere, from supermarket shelves through to a common offering in temples.
Amazingly, it also features in many workplaces as a charm or amulet placed around computers or technology to stop them breaking.
So iconic is this Kuai Kuai / Guai Guai 乖乖Taiwan coconut puff, you can even buy Guai Guai merchandise like an EasyCard shaped like a miniature pack or even Kuai Kuai tissues.
From flavours to folklore, here is our guide to Taiwan’s Kuai Kuai corn puffs and culture.
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What are Taiwan Kuai Kuai Corn Puffs?
Kuai Kuai is a Taiwanese snack that has taken on a life of their own in modern culture which we’ll get onto in a moment.
You can buy packets of the corn puffs as individual snacks or in multipacks – they usually cost around NT$30 a packet in convenience stores (and are much cheaper in supermarkets like Carrefour and PX Mart).
The Taiwan potato chip and snack market is huge and Kuai Kuai is also famous for its sweet fish crackers.
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Kuai Kuai Puffs as Good Luck Charms
Whilst they are first and foremost a delicious corn snack with various flavours to enjoy, you are equally likely to see Kwai Kwai snacks in offices and workplaces as you are in a convenience store.
Office workers, IT employees and machinists sometimes leave packets of Kwai Kwai puffs by their equipment or machinery – these savoury snacks are seen as a good luck charm for technology and equipment, kind of like blessing the machine.
The practice of adorning computers with corn puffs seems to started about fifteen years ago and is sad to have become common puff practice as the Kuai Kuai name in Mandarin 乖乖 is similar to ‘good behaviour’.
In a very shrewd marketing move, Kuai Kuai 乖乖 redesigned their corn puff packet design to include a clear area where workers or worshippers could leave messages – plus it was suggested ‘expired’ snacks no longer protect and need to be replaced twice a year (often during Lunar New Year).
Rather astutely, Kuai Kuai also worked up a marketing campaign to suggest the green packets of coconut butter puffs are best utilised as good luck charms specifically around electronic equipment.
They then suggested the yellowed coloured packets of Kwai Kwai ‘Five Spices’ might be better suited in banks and finance, to encourage good fortune.
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Temple Snacks
As well as office amulets, we’ve also noticed Kuai Kuai / Guai Guai snacks as a popular offering in temples across Taiwan, particularly during Lunar New Year ceremonies.
It is common for worshippers in Taiwan to leave fresh fruit and snacks in temples as an offering to deities / Gods in return for good fortune and prosperity.
Based on our observations, Kuai Kuai is the temple snack offering of choice, followed by Cadina chips – the gods clearly have good taste.
We’ve spotted Kuai Kuai laid out as offerings in temples such as Longshan in Taipei and Sanfeng Temple in Kaohsiung.
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Taiwan Kuai Kuai Flavours
There are several Kuai Kuai corn puff flavors to choose from including special / limited edition flavours which only appear at certain times of the year.
Kuai Kuai Green
The green packets are coconut butter flavour corn puffs and the biggest seller (likely due to their status in the workplace too).
Kuai Kuai Yellow
Thought to bring good fortune, Kuai Kuai yellow packets are ‘Five Spices’ in flavour.
Kuai Kuai Oolong Tea Puffs / Maroon Packaging
We’ve only seen these once (at the 7-Eleven Pokemon store in Kaohsiung) but these oolong tea puffs sound amazing.
Kuai Kuai Chocolate Puffs
Aimed at couples, show your loved one you care with Kuai Kuai chocolate flavored corn puffs – you can even write a romantic message on the front. Because corn puffs show you care!
Kuai Kuai Strawberry / pink packaging
‘Berry’ nice, these corn puffs are limited edition and even the snacks themselves are pink.
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Other Kwai Kwai merchandise
Coconut Corn Puff EasyCard
Many of Taiwan’s iconic snacks are also replicated in miniature form as Taiwan EasyCards and iCash cards.
The green Kwai Kwai coconut corn puffs packets are also available in EasyCard form joining other famous food stuffs like the Taiwanese egg caramel pudding (we’ve also seen Uni President Milk Toast in EasyCard form too).
Kuai Kuai Tissues
We are presuming these are aimed at workers who want to take wet wipes into the office that also bring good – these are available in Taiwan Watsons pharmacy stores.
Tote Bags and Gift Boxes
During Lunar New Year when all the stores were full of gift-sets, we spotted Kwai Kwai tote bags as part of a special selection box. The boxes contained 6 packets of corn puffs plus a canvas bag.
Have you spotted any other corn puff related souvenirs or spin-off products? Let us know in the comments below or on our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group.
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