How Two Students Made $100K Bringing Korean Hot Sauce To America

Note: This business is no longer running. It was started in 2017 and ended in 2021. Reason for closure: Acquired.

Hello! Who are you and what are you working on?

Hi, my name is Theo Lee and I’m the co-founder and CEO of KPOP Foods.
Today, the brand and story behind a company is critical for success and sustainability as consumers are driven towards companies and products making an impact.

KPOP Foods is a Korean food company inviting people to discover and enjoy Korean flavors through its food products. Our approach is to become the Red Bull of Korean food by bringing together mainstream culture, art, music, and food.

My co-founder, Mike Kim, and I are both Korean Americans and launched KPOP Foods because we wanted to build a Korean food brand that people could resonate with and embrace.

Our mission was and continues to be about bringing people together and uplifting spirits through Korean food and flavors. When we looked at the Korean food companies in the market, we couldn’t find one that represented this spirit, so we decided to do it ourselves.

Our first product is KPOP Sauce, a Korean chili sauce based on my grandma’s 70-year old recipe using Korean chili paste (aka gochujang). We debuted KPOP Sauce through a successful Sorry, you need to login and/or become a member to view the rest of this content.