the all-natural, vegan, sugar, preservative- and artificial flavor-free condiment and spice company boasts a booming e-commerce business and brick-and-mortar presence.  In 2023, the brand raised $12 million in a Series B funding round, from investors including Prelude Growth Partners and Pendulum to grow its wholesale business operations. Connecting with your culture through cuisine   After moving to China for a tech job, Gao, who had previously worked for companies like BlackBerry and Proctor & Gamble, began to explore an alternative career path as she started to reconnect with her family’s cultural background, largely through eating, studying and, eventually, cooking Chinese cuisine.  “It was when I was there [in China], that I sort of started to peel back some of the layers and reconnect with my cultural identity and heritage. Food became a key vehicle for me to do that,” the founder told Inside Retail. “I started by just exploring Chinese food culture and learning about this 5000-year culinary heritage that was so vast and complex, but yet misunderstood… I eventually decided to learn how to cook Chinese food and studied with incredible chefs in China, quit my job in tech and started a restaurant in Shanghai. “That’s sort of how Fly By Jing started — with an underground supper club that I was doing on the side where I was cooking my version of Sichuan food, which was rooted in tradition, but sort of made for the way that we eat today and was just inspired by and informed by my experience of having lived all over the world.” In the process of launching a company, Gao knew that she wanted to create a product that remained “true to tradition” and highlighted the regional ingredients and flavors of Chengdu,  the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province.  “I was really inspired by the flavors and the energy of fly restaurants, which are these very special hole-in-the-wall spots in Chengdu that are so good. They are set to attract people like flies, are super energetic and are such a fun part of the culture that I wanted to celebrate it and bring it to life,” Gao said.  After an extensive period of research and successfully raising funds to kickstart the business, Fly By Jing launched its hero product, the Sichuan Chili Crisp, in 2018. Since then, Fly By Jing has launched several viral collaborations and product launches with brands including Shake Shack, Panda Express, Our Place, Sun Noodle and the Gen Z/Millenial popular tinned fish brand Fishwife, in addition to its line of brand-specific SKUs.   Meanwhile, the brand’s original product continues to experience rapid growth, posting a 294 per cent jump on Amazon alone from July 2022 to July 2023. As a whole, the brand has had double-digit growth every year for the last five years. Flying off the shelves  In addition to a thriving e-commerce business, Fly By Jing can be found in over 1000 doors, from specialty shops, like Pop Up Grocer, to big-box retailers Wegmans, Target, Wholefoods and, most recently, Walmart.  Even more impressively, in a time when retailers and indie-owned brands are struggling to keep prices in check due to inflation and supply chain issues,  Gao has managed to adjust the brand’s pricing strategy to her advantage.  While the quality of the ingredients has been kept to the brand’s high standards, Gao was able to lessen the price of Fly By Jing’s goods by over 30 per cent by making a few key packaging tweaks, such as printing on paper labels instead of directly on glass jars. As much as she loved the original jars, Gao realized that it was not cost-effective, and she also said the team needed to figure out how best to present a product in real life, versus simply through a screen.  In shifting brand operations from strictly direct-to-consumer to omnichannel and building up a stronger brick-and-mortar, Gao has come to understand that how consumers shop for products online is very different from how they consider purchasing products in-store.  “In the early days, when we were just DTC we didn’t have to think about the product looks on the shelf, right? We can create a brand world on the website and on social media,” she said. “Whereas as we grew, and we became more and more available in different retail stores; oftentimes, the first time you encounter a product is no longer on your phone, but on the shelf. Now we have to think differently about how to put our best foot forward. So now everything is hinged upon the label.” Like any other indie brand founder, Gao has picked up lessons along the way, like the optimal amount of product inside a container ship to avoid breakage, which is helping the company reach peak operational efficiency.  Being able to adjust the pricing of goods in this way is especially key at a time when consumers are more price-sensitive when it comes to grocery retail.  “Since [launching in] 2018, I think the thing we really accomplished is helping revolutionize the ethnic aisle in grocery stores and being a leader in this movement of bringing high-quality ethnic foods to more and more Americans,” Gao proudly stated.