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Fila Manila
- You should add these 20 food and drink brands from Asian American founders to your pantry.
- They draw upon traditional and cultural backgrounds but may also add new twists and flavors.
- See also: From Here: Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Heritage
As the fastest-growing ethnic group in the country, Asian-Americans have a large influence on what we all consume in culture, from music and film to food and drink.
In the realm of food and drink, we’ve been really excited about Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) founders who are drawing upon their cultural heritage to create new snacks, sauces, delivery services, and beverages that both celebrate where they come from and introduce familiar (to them) flavors to new audiences.
These brands often represent an intersection of the traditional and modern and can be found in classic Asian grocery stores and millennial-branded online storefronts alike. Another thing that distinguishes them as a uniquely millennial brand is their commitment to sustainable and ethical values, from paying family farms fair, above-market wages to using natural and organic ingredients.
As an Asian-American woman, it’s exciting for me to see all the ways fellow members of the AAPI community are shedding light on, celebrating, and innovating upon the amazing foods and drinks that I grew up on – and we hope you’re just as excited to eat and drink all of them, too.
These are the 20 Asian-American food and drink brands you should try:
Omsom
Shop Asian starter kits at Omsom
Created by Vanessa and Kim Pham, the daughters of Vietnamese refugees, Omsom celebrates authentic east Asian and southeast Asian flavors through its convenient meal starters. The packets include fully prepared sauces for iconic dishes like Vietnamese Lemongrass BBQ, Korean Spicy Bulgogi, and Filipino Sisig. All you have to do is add the suggested proteins and veggies on the included recipe cards or improv with your own ingredients to create your own delicious meal. Omsom partnered with Asian chefs, like Amelie Kang of Mala Project, on a number of the products, further strengthening ties with the AAPI food community.
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Bokksu
Bokksu
Shop Japanese snacks at Bokksu
After Danny Taing lived in Japan for four years and returned to the US, he was disappointed that he couldn’t enjoy the same unique snacks found in Japan. It’s this passion for Japanese snacks that prompted him to start Bokksu, a monthly subscription box that curates treats and tea from local Japanese businesses. Each month revolves around a different theme and includes a culture guide. You can also shop your favorite individual snacks and groceries on the site, with options like mochi cheese puffs, persimmon candy, and spicy tantan instant ramen.
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Sanzo
Sanzo
Seeing and drinking the same seltzer flavors gets old, fast. Sandro Roco wanted to drink sparkling waters with flavors that he and many other Asian-Americans grew up with (read: calamansi, lychee, and alphonso mango) and created Sanzo. The drinks are light, crisp, and refreshing and can be found in stores, a number of Asian restaurants in NYC, and online. In summer of 2021, Sanzo released limited-edition printed cans with characters from Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” — we’re looking forward to cool future collaborations like this.
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Fly by Jing
Fly by Jing/Instagram
Shop Chinese sauces and spices at Fly by Jing
Fly by Jing — a name that combines the concept of fly restaurants in Chengdu (“hole-in-the-wall eateries so good they attract people like flies”) and founder Jing Gao’s name — sells the crunchy, oily, spicy Sichuan chili crisp that everyone on the internet wants to try. And once you do try it, you’ll want to put it on everything to give it an extra kick, from fried eggs to sandwiches to congee. The brand has now sold over 1 million jars of sauce and also makes dumpling sauce, mala spice mix, and a hot pot base.
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Brightland
Brightland
Shop oils, vinegar, and honey at Brightland
Not all olive oils are created equal, and when Brightland founder Aishwarya Iyer looked deeper into the industry, she discovered it was rife with lack of production and ingredient transparency. Brightland’s olive oils, vinegars, and honey are never made with preservatives or fillers, and you’ll know exactly when its ingredients were harvested. The results are pantry staples that taste fresh, bright, and pure. Brightland’s beautiful packaging and giftable sets make it even more enticing to use its products every day.
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Nguyen Coffee Supply
Nguyen Coffee Supply/Instagram
Shop coffee at Nguyen Coffee Supply
As the first Vietnamese specialty coffee company in the US, Nguyen Coffee Supply is changing the way we think about specialty coffee. With every cup, founder Sahra Nguyen wants to remind people of the influence of Vietnam on the coffee industry — after all, it is the world’s largest producer of robusta beans and second largest producer of all coffee. In addition to a variety of delicious beans, you can get phin filters, which are like a cross between pour over and a French press.
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Partake Foods
Partake Foods
Shop allergen-free snacks at Partake Foods
Buying food when you suffer from major food allergies can feel like navigating a minefield. Partake Foods, founded by Black and Korean entrepreneur Denise Woodard, lets people snack on cookies, brownies, and pizza without worrying about the risks to their health. Though they’re free from the top eight allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, milk, soy, fish, shellfish), they still taste delicious. Partake is the first food startup led by a woman of color to raise over $1 million in funding and is continuing to expand its product offerings and footprint in physical retail stores.
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Diaspora Co.
Diaspora Co./Instagram
If you want fresh single-origin spices, look no further than Diaspora Co, founded by Sana Javeri Kadri. The company launched in 2017 with one spice, Pragati Turmeric, and now sources 30 single-origin spices — including cinnamon, coriander, two types of cardamom, saffron, and kashmiri chili — from 150 farms in India and Sri Lanka. To keep your spices fresh and organized, you’ll also want to pick up a masala dabba, a spice box filled with katoris (small bowls). At Diaspora Co, when you build your own masala dabba, you also get access to a quarterly virtual cooking club where you can learn how to make the most of your spices.
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Umamicart
Umamicart/Instagram
Shop Asian groceries at Umamicart
Umamicart is an online grocer designed with the Asian-American experience in mind by carrying traditional foods and brands that immigrants and their children ate as well as new brands created by Asian-American founders. Founder Andrea Xu, born in Spain to Chinese parents, wanted to build a site that reflected the unique evolving identities of Asian Americans and gave them a convenient, user-friendly place to shop all their favorite foods. At Umamicart, you can shop longan and Korean pears alongside Yakult drinks, Calbee chips, and some of the very brands mentioned in this article. There’s free shipping on orders over $49.
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Brooklyn Delhi
Brooklyn Delhi
Shop condiments and sauces at Brooklyn Delhi
Whenever she came back from visiting family in India, chef and cookbook author Chitra Agrawal always filled her suitcase with achaar, a sweet, sour, and spicy condiment also known as Indian pickle. Unsatisfied with the achaar sold in the US, she began making her own and now sells a variety of achaar at Brooklyn Delhi. It goes great with traditional pairings like rice, daal, and curry, as well as eggs, sandwiches, and pasta. You can also buy various simmer sauces (coconut cashew korma, tomato curry) and hot sauces, all of which are handcrafted in small batches right in NYC.
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Fila Manila
Fila Manila
Shop simmer sauces from Fila Manila
Though Filipino Americans are the country’s second-largest Asian ancestry group, Filipino food and flavors are still underrepresented in grocery store aisles. Jake Deleon, founder of Fila Manila (a spin on “FilAm,” which is short for Filipino American), said “we want to show you the world of Filipino cuisine” in an interview with Food Business News and is starting off with three versatile and flavorful simmer sauces: adobo (tamari soy and garlic), kare kare (peanut), and caldereta (tomato). Expect snacks, desserts, and prepared meals down the line to add even more variety to your pantry.
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Lunar
Lunar/Instagram
Sanzo’s party counterpart is Lunar, a craft hard seltzer inspired by a night out with founders Sean Ro and Kevin Wong. When the only drink options alongside their late night Korean fried chicken were Heineken and Budweiser, they began brewing ideas for a new generation of Asian alcohol and flavor-testing in their own kitchens. Its flavor lineup currently comprises yuzu, lychee, Korean plum, and makrut lime. But, it’s the limited-edition flavors like tamarind rice paddy herb and pineapple cake are where the brand really shines.
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Copper Cow Coffee
Copper Cow Coffee
Shop portable pourover coffee packs at Copper Cow Coffee
Debbie Wei Mullin’s Vietnamese coffee comes in a highly portable and convenient form: just hang the pre-filled coffee filter over your mug, pour in boiling water, and add as much of the included creamer packet to your liking. In addition to black and classic lattes, the brand offers creative flavors like churro and lavender, blending Mullin’s Vietnamese heritage with her Californian upbringing. Copper Cow works directly with farmers in Vietnam, paying them twice the market rate for the flavorful coffee you enjoy every morning.
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Dang Foods
Dang Foods/Instagram
Dang is named after the mother of Thai-American brothers and founders Vincent and Andrew Kitirattragarn. She’s the one who taught them how to make the signature crunchy, slightly sweet coconut chips that we all love snacking on. Dang, a certified B Corp that works directly with family farms in Thailand, has since expanded its delicious, 100% plant-based and non-GMO snack portfolio to include rice cakes (with mouthwatering flavors like toasted sesame, sriracha spice, and aged cheddar) and low carb snack bars.
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Noona’s Ice Cream
Noona’s Ice Cream/Instagram
Shop ice cream at Noona’s Ice Cream
Noona, an ice cream brand whose name means “big sister” in Korean, is the brainchild of pastry chef Hannah Bae. In 2016, her toasted rice flavor won the annual ice cream contest at an NYC street fair, inspiring her to make more flavors using Asian ingredients. In addition to formulating original flavors like golden sesame, turmeric honeycomb, and toasty mochi, Noona collaborates with artists and influencers like singer Japanese Breakfast to make fun ice creams like persimmon jubilee. The brand is also thoughtful about sourcing, working with collective farms to get hormone- and antibiotic-free dairy, and using only whole foods and non-GMO ingredients in all its products.
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Us Two Tea
Us Two Tea
Tea, central to many Asian cultures, has always provided an opportunity to gather with friends and family. Us Two Tea, founded by Maggie Xue, specializes in Taiwanese tea and works directly with family-owned farms. Through Us Two, you can expand your horizons past black and jasmine tea and try Baozhong tea and oolong tea in both non-toxic and biodegradable tea sachet or loose leaf varieties. You’ll also receive education about how best to enjoy your tea and what kinds of food to pair it with.
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Makku
Makku/Instagram
Korea’s oldest drink makgeolli dates all the way back to the 10th century and is still enjoyed today for its smooth, slightly sweet, slightly tart taste. Bringing together her background at ZX Ventures, the innovation and investment group for Anheuser-Busch InBev, and her own love for makgeolli, founder Carol Pak thought it was the perfect time to introduce the Korean beer to American consumers. Makku comes in cans in a variety of flavors that you can enjoy by itself or as part of a cocktail.
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Tea Drops
Tea Drops/Instagram
The tea from Tea Drops, founded by Sashee Chandran, immediately stands out from all the other tea you’ve had because it’s neither bagged nor loose leaf — instead, it’s made from ground-up organic tea leaves that are packed into fun shapes like hearts and flowers. Add boiling water and the drop dissolves to give you a hot cup of delicious tea. All the tea is kosher-certified and the brand supports fair trade, organic harvesting practices, and female-driven supply chains. And, for every box sold, Tea Drops donates a year’s supply of clean water through The Thirst Project.
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Mama O’s
Mama O’s/Instagram
As with many entrepreneurial ventures, Mama O’s, a kimchi brand created by Kheedim Oh, was never intended to be a brand. Oh simply wanted kimchi that tasted as good as his mom’s and none of the Asian stores near him could satisfy him. The kimchi that his mom taught him how to make was such a hit among friends and strangers that he eventually launched Mama O’s, which today sells kimchi, kimchi paste, “kimchili,” and kimchi kits. There’s even a vegan variety.
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Kasama
Kasama
Rum is often associated with the Caribbean but the Philippines is also one of the top rum producers in the world. Alexandra Dorda is the Polish-Filipino founder behind the small-batch rum Kasama, which means “together” in Tagalog. Aged in American oak barrels, the classic spirit tastes like pineapple with a hint of vanilla and sea salt. Kasama’s site also has plenty of creative Filipino-inspired cocktail recipes, from the Pandan Pleaser to the Pinay Colada.
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