87-year-old Cesar Bonilla, who owns the company Bonilla a La Vista, is grateful to ‘Parasite’ director Bong Joon-ho.
Cesar Bonilla is still baffled by a surge in demand for the canned potato chips made by his company in northwestern Spain after they appeared in award-winning Korean film Parasite.
The movie this month became the first non-English language film to win an Oscar in the Best Picture category and the 87-year-old Bonilla is grateful to its director Bong Joon-ho.
“I’d say to him a thousand thanks and I have tears in my eyes when I think about it,” Bonilla told Reuters while watching a clip from the dark comedy in which the scheming Kim family feasts on food and drink at the house of their rich employers.
“It was a mystery how this movie showed this can of Bonilla a La Vista, made with so much affection and hope, and then the movie got so distinguished. My hope has been fulfilled,” Bonilla added.
Bonilla’s family-run company’s online sales in Spain surged 150% and distributors have been increasing orders at home and abroad. Four more staff have been hired, adding to around 100 employees.
“Now that we are selling a lot with all this impact, we hired people because otherwise we can’t cope,” Bonilla said.
The company makes 540 tonnes of crisps per year, exporting 60 tonnes to 20 countries. South Korea, where the crisps were popular with high-end consumers long before the movie’s release, accounts for the bulk of exports, around 40 tonnes.
