I always thought that banana chips were a Filipino thing. Apparently not. It’s all over — there is a recipe for banana chips with the skin on, there’s the baked variety and there’s even one where the banana slices are salted and spiced. And it appears that so many banana varieties can be made into chips.
In the Philippines, banana chips are made from hard, green Saba or Cavendish. They are produced for local consumption and for export. The Department of Agriculture website has detailed instructions on how to make them the traditional way. There are more complex processes for high-volume production such as vacuum frying and freezing.
Most banana chips are round with the banana cut horizontally into rings. As with any product, quality varies. Some are good, some are better than others and some are totally forgettable. I’ve eaten banana chips that are so thick and hard that you can crack your teeth in the attempt to masticate them. Some have way too much sugar coating that they stick to each other once you open the package and the air hits the sugar.
The best banana chips I have ever eaten was from the canteen of the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. They were thinner and longer (the bananas were sliced vertically) with just a wisp of sugar coating and, ergo, lighter and crispier. I was almost eight months pregnant with Sam and, due to some complications, I had to be confined at the hospital a week before my scheduled Caesarian Section. Close monitoring until I completed the eighth month then out comes the baby. I never could complete nine months of pregnancy. So, for a week, I did nothing but rest, read and watch TV. I was on IV drip and moving around wasn’t allowed. The whole time, I had my supply of those unforgettable banana chips.


We buy banana chips occasionally but it’s not a must have in our house. For some reason, Sam and Alex never developed an affinity for them. Maybe, it’s a generation thing. I belong to a generation before the country was deluged by imported chips that are just as widely available as the local banana chips.
Maybe, it’s a marketing thing. In most cases, production of banana chips is still a kind of large-scale cottage industry. No large factories in the league of Frito Lay’s. And makers of banana chips are not known for advertising on print and broadcast media. Even on the internet, local sellers and exporters are so much fewer and with less reach than big companies that have factories churning out thousands of bags of different kinds of chips in a fraction of the time it takes to make banana chips.
In many ways, banana chips fall under the comfort food label. They are a thing of nostalgia. A reminder of childhood. That’s why banana chips are found mostly in pasalubong (souvenir) centers more than anywhere else. Filipinos abroad (the main target market of exporters) who crave for them are not exactly the ones in their teens and twenties. Rather, they are the older ones — the ones who grew up here, experienced banana chips during their childhood, moved abroad and suddenly found that the familiar banana chips were no longer accessible.
Crave? Are banana chips that good that people would crave for them? Like I said, it is comfort food. And people crave for comfort food. But, as a culinary item, well… Some banana chips are way better than others in terms of quality but, in the Philippines, all banana chips are sweet. And they can be cloying after a while. They’re not like potato chips which can be flavored with a hundred different things because potatoes taste neutral and simply absorb whatever flavorings are added to them.
The thing is, it’s not as if there’s nothing but sugar that can be added to sliced bananas for making banana chips. The idea of adding salt and turmeric, for instance, is intriguing. I’m also thinking that a little cinnamon and nutmeg, or vanilla, in the sugar would turn banana chips into a new experience. Or, perhaps, ginger, kalamansi and honey. So many ways to make banana chips pop.
Think of cornick — corn kernels fried to a crisp — and even peanuts. When I was a child, peanuts were either boiled, boiled and dried, or fried. They were sold by hawkers, mostly ambulant. Then came Nagaraya cracker nuts — coated peanuts (that eventually came in so many flavors) — and children who never developed amore for boiled, boiled and dried, or fried peanuts were suddenly munching peanuts by the bagful. And cornick? Think how Boy Bawang revolutionized the cornick industry when it first hit the market in 2003. But I think that local banana chip makers, just like most local movie producers, would rather stick to the tried-and-tested formula that people patronize.
The inescapable thought, of course, is just how many banana chip lovers, in pure nostalgia fashion, would be left after my generation passes on. Will there be enough among the generations after mine, weaned and raised in Jack ‘n’ Jill and Oishi as they are, to sustain the local banana chip industry?
My kids and I also love the banana chips from Lourdes Hospital, pero wala na ngayon kasi wala na yung store sa medical arts. You can try the Banana chips made by Leslie’s called Thin and Crispy, masarap din.
Hi Ms. Connie, sa Our Lady our Lourdes ka rin pala nanganak. I also had my Ceasarian Section there with Dr. Irene Datu. Anyhow, I love thinner and crispier banana chips. The Leslie brands is also nice, the banana chips can actually melt in your mouth because of it’s thinner slice. :)
Faith and Charo, Leslie’s as in the maker of Clover Chips?
Yes Ms. Connie, I tried it last year and shared it with my husband who’s not actually into banana chips but when he tried it he actually enjoyed it. At least Leslie’s came up with a healthy snack aside from all those empty calories chips :P
Yup, great snack or my kids. They even prefer it over chips :).
Ms Connie, you must try Villa Socorro Farm’s Sabanana Chips from Pagsanjan. They’re already being sold in Manila. They’re thin, crispy and not so sweet. My dad buys them by the box because my kids like them so much.
Thanks for the feedback, ladies. I think it’ll be easier to find Leslie’s than Villa Socorro Farm’s but I’ll look out for both. :)
Hi! My name is Raymund Aaron and we make Villa Socorro Farm Sabanana Chips. I stumbled upon your blog and it was a very good read. I just couldn’t help but comment. I’m glad to know that there are people like you who are enthusiastic about their banana chips to the point that you’ve written a whole blog post about it. Makes me very optimistic about the future of our business.
About our product, other than the conventional Sweet Original, we came out with savory variants like Smoky BBQ and Roasted Garlic. We’re hoping we can go mainstream and somehow compete with these other chips we normally see in the market.
To add to your parting thought, I think there is still a market for banana chips even in the younger generations (well, I hope there is or else we’ll be out of business, Hahaha!) We’re at least trying to making banana chips more relevant to today’s market as well as making it trendy in a way.
You can find our banana chips in offices, schools and hospitals in Metro Manila. We have a list of them in our website, http://www.villasocorro.com.ph. However, maybe you can let me know where you are located, I could probably have some sent to you so that you could try our product.
Thank you Ms. Aimee for suggesting our product too.
You don’t have a branch in Antipolo…??? :( The variants sound soooooo interesting.
Sorry, none yet in Antipolo, I think. The closest would probably be in the Katipunan or QC circle area. Not all outlets carry the other variants too. As much as we are trying to promote these variants, sellers and especially buyers tend to go for what you mentioned to be the “tried and tested formula” which is the Sweet Original. But actually, the variants are also very good.
connie, we do produce large-scale banana chips in the philippines. two of the biggest producers of banana chips are primefruit, intl. and see’s international. they make banana chips from both the saba and cavendish varieties and aside from the domestic market which they service, they all export to europe, the u.s. and japan. they have huge factories in mindanao, and are solely filipino-owned. aside from the usual cuts, they also do crisps to be mixed with cereals and this is highly coveted in europe. there are also other emerging companies who have flavored banana chips. i once test-tasted two flavors and they are both to-die for: cheese and coffee. the latter was really yummy i almost forgot my name. ;)
That is so good to know! Applause! :)
Raymund, my family is from Pagsanjan, Laguna so I know about the banana chips. My dad, Abner Unson sometimes supply the bananas from our farm to your Dingin factory:) He sent us a box of chips last week and they were gone in 3 days. My kids were pleasantly surprised when they found out that the chips are now being sold in their school cafeteria in Ateneo :)
Oh, ok. Really glad you and your kids like our Sabanana Chips. And yes, we are available in the Ateneo caf. We’re trying to get into as many school/office canteens as we can. Thanks again!