Best of KC 2023: Chamoy Boi serves up fuego snacks and family roots

November 21, 2023

THE PITCH STAFF,

An assortment of flavor bombs from Chamoy Boi. // Photo by Zach Bauman

This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November.

Remember lunchroom currency? Sometimes, it was a Pop-Tart, a stowaway mini-candy bar, or, if you were super lucky, a package of Gushers. With their bright colors, gooey center, and flavor mash-ups, Gushers were a hot commodity in the ‘90s. Fast forward to treat-yo-self adult snack time, and you have the intersection of sweet, spicy, and salty Chamoy Boi candy.

The craving-crusher pop-up was founded by Michael Ho during the pandemic following a nail salon shut-down. He needed to make money and thought, “I should make some candy.” One batch and a social media post later, and here we are. Chamoy Boi candies marry Vietnamese, Mexican, Cambodian, and Thai cultures to form mouthwatering morsels and his newest development: Red Honey. Yes, you can buy chamoy by the bottle. We recommend putting it on literally everything.

Photos by Zach Bauman