Page 12 - Food and Drink Business Magazine May 2019

✷ RISING STAR
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✷ SOUP KIT SLURPING STAGE
The company is launching two new products this month – pho and ramen soups.
It’s their first foray into the soup category and for Lucy Chen it is “super exciting”.
They will be in kits at Woolworths in the dry goods section.
then you’re not going to have customers who keep coming back.
“Our focus has always been authentic, but with that, we also have balance. Dad and Mum are from overseas, so he imported a lot of really niche Asian products in the beginning that I can’t see will ever be mainstream. My sister and I grew up with it, so we eat some of it, but because we were both born in Australia and have grown up here, we know what kind of more mainstream flavours will work.”
MAINSTREAM TARGETS
Chen says the business’s main target market is mainstream Australia.
“Australians love Chinese foods and are really good at embracing different cuisines. I think that’s probably why we’re growing so quickly now, along with a couple of other
factors, such as there’s been a lot of migration in the last
five to 10 years from China, and I also feel
many hot-food places now have foods with an Asian fusion.”
Chen says Australians’ understanding has seen foreign cuisines move to
mainstream. She tells a story of someone selling
“really thick wheat noodles, and calling them
Pad Thai noodles”. “They said to me
‘Australians don’t know the difference’. I was like really? They do. Everyone knows what Pad Thai is, and because of that knowledge, I feel that we can still do more with Asian food, including in supermarkets.”
“ We would love to be a household name. That’s our aim.”
AVAILABILITY AND GROWTH
Sales are split 60:40 between retail and food service.
“Food service and Asian grocery stores were Dad’s main business. So expanding retail into major supermarkets – Coles, Woolworths and IGA Australia wide – is what Nancy and I’ve been working on.”
Chen says the company’s aim now is continuing to bring authentic Asian foods into
the market.
“Whether that be something in ready meals or some other
way, we’ll explore that. I think there’s some good stuff out there, but I don’t think there’s enough. Asian food can be quite tricky to cook, and people eat it at restaurants but may find it harder at home.”
Chen jokes her mum “is always mum shaming me because my kids eat so much pasta and not enough Asian food – so I really feel like I’m almost my own customer.”
FUTURE THOUGHTS
Lucy Chen says with recent growth, export is “probably more a desire than a plan”, adding they will concentrate on growing their domestic market sustainably.
“We’re going to keep pursuing retail and adding new lines. We did our first lot of above- the-line marketing earlier this year,
but I think it’s more just making sure that we are launching those good-quality products, and we’re maintaining all the relationships that we have at the moment with
the retailers.
“We would love to be
a household name. That’s our aim.”
And while they no longer work full-time in the business, Chen says her parents still come in every day.
“They ‘loiter’; that’s the best way to describe it!
Dad is 76, and Mum’s turning 70. I don’t think they’ll ever retire, work’s always been a big part of their life. They come close to lunchtime, and no matter how busy we, are they ask what’s for lunch. It’s not so funny when you’re really, really busy, but it is good. It’s good to have them around.” ✷
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12 | Food&Drink business | May 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au