Meet Alysia Lok | Owner of Caramunchies & Snack Enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alysia Lok and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alysia, how do you think about risk?
Many people may think that starting your own business is a big risk, but I wouldn’t say I’m a very risky person. Before I started my business, I set myself up with as many things to help me succeed before making the jump. I worked a stable 9-5 job in finance while living with my parents for 4 years after graduating university. I’m fortunate to have supportive parents that allowed me to live with them while I saved up enough to pay off all my student loans and also bought my first investment property. I’m also quite careful with my spending and never splurged on clothes, cars, or any material things.

After renting out my investment property, it gave me the financial safety net to pursue a riskier career path where I knew I wouldn’t have reliable income for the foreseeable future. I thought deeply about what I was truly passionate about and knew it had to be something to do with food! I invested all my savings at the time on a business with a business partner that didn’t end up working out due to differences in business expectations and direction. We invested tens of thousands of dollars in this business together and ended up dissolving the company after one year of operations.

To some, the cost of that risk may be too high to try again, but I took this as an expensive learning experience. After a year of disappointment and aimlessness, I gathered up my determination and launched a new business that was genuinely more me. I realized I loved the adventure of entrepreneurship, the value of creating something from nothing, and the passion of sharing this with others. I took everything I learned from my last business and with the encouragement and support of some amazing entrepreneur friends, I created the ultimate snacker’s snack: Caramunchies The Snacker’s Snack. Super soft and smooth caramel handcrafted from scratch, paired with crispy cornflakes! I was able to launch this business with my last remaining few hundred dollars (spent on logo creation, ingredients, packaging materials) and here we are 4 years later! We recently moved into our own production space that we purchased with funds from our company and have a growing team of 4 and I’m so happy I pursued what some may think is a huge risk (twice!).

So even if you’re not a huge risk taker, you can still realistically follow your passions!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Our soft and creamy caramel tumbled with crispy cornflakes is a match made in snacker’s heaven! Proudly handcrafted in small batches in Edmonton, AB using the best ingredients to guarantee freshness! They’re perfect as a pick-me-up, to butter someone up — or just because it’s Tuesday! Any reason is a great reason to be munching on these crunchy, chewy, sweet ‘n salty Caramunchies clusters that will satisfy any craving!

I grew up in a big family that loves to cook and share meals together with a dad who’s been in the food industry as far back as I can remember! My happiest memories are from family dinners at my grandma’s house where everyone would help cook together then we’d all sit at the round dining table to enjoy the homemade food together. They’d always be boisterous dinners full of laughs and everyone talking over each other.

Because of this, food has become my love language. Whenever there’s something to celebrate, I’ll invite people over for dinner or go out for a meal together. If someone’s not feeling well, I’ll bring them some goodies to cheer them up. I started Caramunchies to bring this love of food to all those around me!

Food is a source of comfort for me, so it’s heartbreaking to know that there’s so many people in our city who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. One of our goals since we started Caramunchies was to use funds generated from our business to give back to the community. We’ve been fortunate enough to do this through our Hot Lunch Program where we buy ingredients with our business proceeds, gather a team of volunteers through all the awesome people we’ve met running Caramunchies and provide a hot and nutritious lunch for people in need through a local soup kitchen.

Running my own business with no business background has definitely not been easy. Every day is a learning opportunity and I’m constantly having to make the best decision I can with what I know at the moment. Something I learned along the way is to be genuine, kind to others and stand up for your values. By running a business with this perspective, you’ll attract clients and fellow entrepreneurs you truly care about who are aligned with what you believe in!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would eat seared sable fish sushi at Kobachi, green bean tempura and poutine from Chartier, funghi and spaetzle and tripe soup at Continental Treat, quattro formaggio cheese fondue at Melting Pot, Po’boys and sweet potato fries from Dadeo’s, crab cake benny from XIX Nineteen for brunch, pho beef dip from XO Bistro, chicken enchiladas from La Patrona, egg yolk stuffed ravioli from Bar Bricco, bacon wrapped dates from Sabor, Korean BBQ at BaekJeong and bossam (pork belly & lettuce wraps) from Hanjan.

Dulce Latte and cinnamon buns from Brown Butter Cafe, Chocolate chunk cookies and caramel banana cupcakes from Milk & Cookies, salted egg yolk croissants from Chocorrant, compost cookies from Culina, pandan ice cream from Yelo’d, Mango Pomelo Sago drink from Yifang, brown sugar milk tea from Coco’s, any (or all) donuts from Doughnut Party, and Kashmiri Chai from Remedy,

To fill in the time between meals (and walk off the calories), we’d go shop at all the local markets like Strathcona, Downtown City Market, 124 St Market and Bountiful. We’d pick up some locally made charcuterie from Meuwly’s, Italian Centre and The Butchery for a picnic in the river valley. Pick up unique road trip snacks from Lucky Supermarket for a day trip to Elk Island National Park. Spend a day shopping at West Edmonton Mall and jumping through waves in the waterpark, or if amusement parks are more their thing, we could go on some rides at Galaxyland!

I’d suggest they come during the summer to enjoy one of our many summer festivals like the Fringe performance theatre festival, Heritage days where we celebrate different ethnic cuisines, K-days where a travelling carnival sets up for a week at our expo centre, Folk Fest for some chill music!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
To my supportive husband (Andy Gao) and parents (Andy Lok & Ada Luong)

Website: www.caramunchies.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/caramunchies

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/alysia-lok

Facebook: www.facebook.com/caramunchies

Image Credits
Jinsei Media Urtica Designs