[EYE] With Hangeul-shaped cookies, duo hopes to bring fun to the table

Tyler Rasch and Nidhi Agrawal, who have called South Korea home for years, are no strangers to wearing many hats.

Rasch is a well-known TV personality renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of Asian history and culture. He's also an author, translator, social media influencer and climate activist. Agrawal, who moved to Korea in 2016 keen on bridging the Indian and Korean markets, has a background across the IT industry and has juggled numerous TV and lecture appointments.

The two public personalities, with their impressive Korean language skills, have built their personal brands introducing their home countries' cultures and histories to Koreans and vice versa. Now, they're charting a new path as entrepreneurs with Hangeul Kwaja, which they say is the first Korean alphabet-shaped cookie to hit the market.

"Nidhi and I were working on an English teaching program together and thought, 'Hey, why don't we give out alphabet cookies as treats for the students?’” Rasch said in pitch-perfect Korean, occasionally fidgeting his leopard print flip-flops. “That's when it came to mind that I'd never seen them in Hangeul.”

In many English-speaking countries like the US, alphabet cookies are a childhood staple — something every child growing up learning the language has seen at least once.

"So I called Nidhi right away," he continued. "She was like, 'Wait, what? How's that even possible?' Once we realized there was nothing like it on the market, we decided to give it a shot — that was August last year."

Starting from scratch

With no prior baking or product launch experience, the pair had to start from scratch, getting their hands dirty with everything from crafting the recipe to designing packaging and setting up pop-up shops. Their biggest challenge: perfecting the taste, using 100 percent plant-based ingredients.

"Taste is such a personal thing," Agrawal explained in a no-nonsense style, occasionally asking the interviewer why certain questions were necessary. "It was extra tricky since we wanted to make something vegan that people from all over could enjoy. Starting from scratch with zero baking experience, we really had to come a long way."

After a month and a half of numerous trials and errors, the pair managed to create a handmade pilot product available in four flavors. Clips on their social media accounts document the whole process in detail — two novice entrepreneurs taking care of quite literally everything, from baking to packaging and marketing.

After a year of development and partnering with South Korean snack maker Orion for mass production, their final product offers two distinctly Korean flavors: garlic and mugwort, a nod to Korea's founding myth. In it, a bear turns into a woman after eating the two ingredients.

"We could've played it safe with your typical chocolate and vanilla," Rasch explained. "But we wanted something more uniquely Korean, with a story behind it. That's how we landed on garlic and mugwort."

Starting a business as foreign national residents in Korea, the duo often found themselves up against a slew of administrative hurdles. Paperwork was a particular headache as government agencies lacked adequate cross-language support.

"Take registering your business, for example," Rasch said. "Many government agencies and private companies alike require a Korean-written name for the paperwork to go through. But as foreigners, our alien registration cards only list our names in English, with no official Korean translation. So there's this whole identity mismatch. I could go on and on about stuff like this."

"But still, if you bug the officials enough, you can usually figure it out," he added with a laugh. "So, for foreigners looking to start their business in Korea: Never give up."

Chasing fun

One might think that Hangeul Kwaja cleverly taps into the growing global interest in Korean language learning, fueled by the ongoing hype surrounding K-pop and K-drama.

But Rasch and Agrawal have their sights set on a more inclusive goal. Their vision is to create a snack that brings together people from all walks of life, through the universal language of fun and play.

"Sure, some folks tell us these cookies would make a cool educational tool," Rasch mused, "but as foreigners looking in, Hangeul is just so creative and fun, you know? We see our product as this 'kidult' thing that brings out the inner child in everyone.”

This fun factor shone through as they watched people engage with the cookies in their own creative ways during promotional events, using them as much more than mere snacks.

"We did this promo thing at a wine bar in Yongsan, which was at first meant to be a tasting event," Rasch recalled, visibly delighted. "But we had some time to kill, so we started playing games with the cookies. Next thing you know, no one wants to leave! These total strangers were suddenly best buddies, playing games until the bar closed. It was truly impressive to watch."

Incidentally, drinking games are common in Korea, with the "consonant game" — where players take turns listing words that begin with a given consonant until someone fails to come up with one, at which point they must take a drink — being a popular favorite. The game has clearly served as a source of inspiration for the pair.

"People here love to have fun, but they don't always think about using cookies as a toy when they're hanging out," Agrawal said. "We wanted to show them how."

True to this spirit, Rasch and Agrawal have developed several games of their own that stretch beyond the much-played consonant game. Hangeul Kwaja's official website now offers three different interactive games for visitors to enjoy using the cookies.

'See where it goes'

Since launching Hangeul Kwaja on Sept. 4, Rasch and Agrawal have barely had a moment to catch their breath.

Things have been especially relentless as they gear up for Hangeul Day, the Oct. 9 holiday honoring the creation of the Korean writing system in 1446. "We gave up on most of our ordinary lives. These days, we barely have weekends," Agrawal quipped. Their calendars are already overflowing with back-to-back meetings and promotional events.

Their yearlong effort is finally bearing fruit as multiple schools, department stores and private companies have been reaching out lately to inquire about bulk orders. The duo is eyeing large-scale events in the coming months, like the Gwangju Food Fair in mid-October and November’s internationally recognized Coex Food Week.

But more than anything, it's the shared sense of fun amid the challenges that seemed to drive Rasch and Agrawal forward. 'Fun' was palpable in the room throughout the interview as the founders drew energy from the same playful spirit their product aims to inspire.

Their lighthearted approach is encapsulated in their company name: SWIT, which stands for See Where It Goes.

"Despite the demanding schedule, we're definitely having fun," Agrawal said. "Our long-term vision is to create a community centered around our product, where everyone can engage in fun activities with us using the snacks."

"Ultimately, our goal is for everyone to enjoy themselves," Rasch added. "Hope y’all have fun with our cookies."