When hunger strikes between classes or during late-night study sessions, the usual snack options can start to feel repetitive. To change things up, Aram Shayesteh, U2 Arts, launched a website named Allsnack in 2024, offering a curated selection of hard-to-find treats from around the world, and delivering them directly to Canadian customers. Inspired by his ongoing experience as a student, Shayesteh created Allsnack to make international snacking more accessible.

Born and raised in Montreal, Shayesteh is no stranger to the city’s multicultural landscape. Still, when he stepped foot on campus as a first-year student, he was struck by the rich diversity that characterizes the McGill student body. 

“I noticed all the different languages that I hear on campus, all the different backgrounds,” Shayesteh said in an interview with The Tribune. “I told myself it would be very interesting if there was a way [to] taste the snacks of all these places that McGill students come from.”

Shayesteh has also found that international students themselves crave the taste of authentic flavours from back home. 

“Honestly, there’s a lot of food that I miss from home,” Aashna Lakhani, U3 Science, told The Tribune. “Snacks like Kurkure and aloo bhujia, […] you can find them in supermarkets in Canada, but for some reason they just don’t taste the same. So, I feel like that’s worse because you get a taste of it, but it’s not the same, so then you’re just complaining about how bad it is.”

Shayesteh looked for a store in Montreal that carried a wide range of international snacks, but there weren’t many. To him, the dearth of such stores was incongruent with the vast cultural diversity around him—so he saw an opportunity. 

Busy schedules and tight budgets make travelling during the semester difficult for many students, but food offers a way to explore the world without leaving Montreal. It connects people, bridging cultures through shared flavours and experiences. 

“It’s like you’re travelling when you’re tasting different foods,” Shayesteh explained.

While studying abroad in the United States, Shayesteh created a nine-question Google Form assessing University of North Carolina Chapel Hill students’ interest in international snacks. To his surprise, the results indicated that students were eager to try a range of flavour combinations they’d never encountered. Among options like matcha-flavoured KitKats and cola-flavoured Haribo, the Snickers Kesta Pista—a saffron and pistachio version of the candy found in India— emerged as students’ most popular choice. Having found that there was enthusiasm for international snack foods, he decided to try and bring Allsnack to life.

In the fall, Shayesteh spent months developing his website, which offers what he calls “The essential C’s”: Candy, Chips, Chocolate, Cookies, and Crackers. Snacks featured on the website are personally tested by his 12-year-old brother, ensuring a stamp of approval before making it to customers. 

Unlike existing brick-and-mortar snack stores in Montreal, Allsnack focuses on limited-edition international food collaborations, such as Hubba Bubba x Skittles gum from the United States. While the website currently carries major brands like Oreo, Doritos, and KitKat, Shayesteh hopes to expand his selection to include regionally popular treats from lesser-known brands. Looking ahead, he envisions adding snacks from even more countries and one day launching an Allsnack pop-up store.

For students ordering from Allsnack for the first time, Shayesteh recommends trying American Wings-flavoured Doritos from Taiwan or coffee-flavoured Doritos from Australia. 

When asked about his favourite part of running Allsnack, Shayesteh’s answer was simple: “It’s a fun business. People are very happy when they eat. I love eating. I love trying new food.”