Few snacks are as deeply woven into Filipino life as SkyFlakes. It’s there in lunchboxes, merienda plates, and balikbayan boxes. It’s part of late-night study sessions, office coffee breaks, and the humble “panawid-gutom” when meals are still hours away.
But how did a simple, thin, and lightly salted cracker become one of the most recognizable food brands in the country? To understand that, we have to trace the story all the way back to the beginning, to a Chinese immigrant in prewar Manila, a family business that refused to disappear, and a cracker that quietly grew into a cultural icon.
The story of SkyFlakes begins more than a century ago, long before the crackers themselves were ever baked. In the early 1900s, a man named Mar Yuck San migrated from Guangdong, China, to the Philippines. Like many immigrants of his time, he was chasing new opportunities, and he found them on the busy streets of Escolta, Manila, the country’s commercial heart during the American colonial era.
Mar Yuck San started small. He opened an ice cream parlor, which later expanded into a bakery and confectionery. By the 1920s and 1930s, the family had built a solid reputation for quality sweets and baked goods. They eventually launched a biscuit line under the name M.Y. San & Co., producing soda crackers and cookies for the local market.
The early products were humble but popular, and they laid the foundation for what would later become one of the most beloved snack brands in the Philippines.
The outbreak of World War II and the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in the 1940s disrupted countless businesses, and M.Y. San was no exception. Factories shut down, distribution networks collapsed, and the company, like many others, had to pause operations.
But even war couldn’t erase what M.Y. San had built. After the conflict, the family slowly rebuilt the business from the ground up. They invested in new equipment, hired more workers, and resumed biscuit production. By the 1950s, M.Y. San was once again a familiar name in Filipino households.
The company continued to refine its products, and in the process, it laid the groundwork for a new kind of cracker that would change the business forever.
In the early 1960s, M.Y. San introduced a new kind of soda cracker that was lighter, crispier, and easier to pair with other foods. They called it SkyFlakes.
At first glance, it looked simple, just a thin, rectangular cracker with small holes punched into it. But it was carefully designed. The holes allowed steam to escape during baking, preventing bubbles from forming and keeping the crackers flat and crisp. The result was a cracker that had a satisfying snap and a mild flavor, perfect on its own or with toppings.
SkyFlakes was marketed as a versatile, everyday snack, not too salty, not too sweet, and easy to pair with everything from cheese spreads to condensed milk. Filipinos quickly embraced it. It was affordable, convenient, and filling, making it ideal for working-class families, students, and anyone looking for a quick bite.
The brand’s signature white, blue, and red packaging also made it stand out. The colors, reminiscent of the Philippine flag, gave SkyFlakes a subtle sense of national identity, even if that wasn’t the original intent.
By the 1970s, SkyFlakes had become a staple in Filipino households. It was sold in sari-sari stores, groceries, and canteens across the country. Because of its long shelf life and lightweight packaging, it also became a favorite for baon (packed snacks) and emergency rations during typhoons or long trips.
It wasn’t just popular in the Philippines. As Filipino communities grew abroad, SkyFlakes found its way into balikbayan boxes and overseas supermarkets. For many Filipinos overseas, a pack of SkyFlakes wasn’t just a snack, it was a piece of home.
The brand’s strength lay in its simplicity. It wasn’t trying to compete with cookies or flavored chips. It offered something else: reliability. SkyFlakes was the cracker you could trust to curb hunger without fuss, the one you could eat with coffee, spread with butter, or crush into a soup.
In 2001, a new chapter began when Monde Nissin Corporation, one of the Philippines’ largest food companies, acquired M.Y. San Biscuit Inc.
This acquisition gave SkyFlakes access to greater resources, modernized production facilities, and a wider distribution network. Monde Nissin helped expand the brand’s reach, both locally and abroad, while retaining the familiar taste and image that Filipinos loved.
Under Monde Nissin, SkyFlakes continued to evolve. The company introduced Cracker Sandwiches with flavored fillings like chocolate, peanut butter, and mantikilya (butter). It launched garlic, onion & chives, and fit varieties for more health-conscious consumers. Packaging also improved, with individually sealed packs that kept crackers fresh and made them easier to store and share.
Despite these changes, the core identity of SkyFlakes remained the same. It was still the same crisp, no-frills cracker that Filipinos grew up with.
It’s rare for a product to stay relevant for more than half a century, but SkyFlakes has done exactly that. Its success comes down to a few simple but powerful factors:
This blend of practicality and nostalgia is why SkyFlakes remains as relevant to young Filipinos today as it was to their grandparents.
SkyFlakes isn’t just a snack, it’s part of the rhythm of everyday life in the Philippines.
It’s there during long government office lines, tucked into bags as a just-in-case bite. It’s shared during brownouts and typhoons, when meals are uncertain. It’s crumbled into porridge or paired with coffee in countless Filipino homes.
Abroad, SkyFlakes often appears in balikbayan boxes, a small but meaningful taste of home for Filipinos working overseas. For many OFWs, a single pack can trigger memories of childhood and family, making it more than just food, it’s comfort.
Even its branding has cultural weight. The red, white, and blue wrapper subtly mirrors the colors of the Philippine flag, reinforcing its place as a homegrown staple even as it’s sold in supermarkets around the world.
Even if you’ve eaten SkyFlakes all your life, there’s a good chance you don’t know all of these:
SkyFlakes has survived world wars, economic crises, shifting food trends, and the rise of countless competitors. Through it all, it has remained a fixture of Filipino life.
The future will bring new challenges, from changing dietary preferences to growing competition from local and international brands. But if the past six decades are any indication, SkyFlakes will continue to evolve without losing the simplicity that made it beloved in the first place.
It’s not just a snack. It’s a story that began with an immigrant entrepreneur, endured through war and change, and became a part of everyday Filipino life. And as long as Filipinos reach for a small, crisp cracker to tide them over, the SkyFlakes story is far from over.
