This Soup Dumpling Brand Is Demystifying Chinese Food and Bringing Visibility to the “Third Culture”

MìLà was founded by Jennifer and Caleb Liao and provides restaurant-quality dishes for people to eat at home. From food to how it intertwines with culture, the modern Chinese food brand uses design, videos, influencers, and more, to help tell a story that honors heritage while taking it into the future.

The brand started as a brick-and-mortar shop in Washington, but soon expanded into selling frozen, direct-to-consumer products in 2020. They now offer a selection of soup dumplings, sauces, noodles, potstickers, and ice cream.

Part of MìLà’s storytelling north star led them to powerful partnerships with the likes of Uncle Roger, Simu Liu, and others. This helps them to tell their story to even more people.

Watch now to learn about learning to start a food business, amplifying modern Chinese food, and partnering with Simu Liu.

Chapters:
[01:33] - Starting a Chinese Food Business
[07:15] - Rebranding as MìLà
[11:13] - Storytelling as Branding
[20:38] - Costco Story
[24:33] - What Do Audiences Want to See?

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Episode Links:
MìLà Online: https://eatmila.com/
MìLà Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eat.mila
Commercial with Simu Liu: https://www.tiktok.com/@simuliu/video/7416160179227462954

Takeaways:
Rebranding Journey - The Liao family decided to rebrand as MìLà in order to grow their food brand past its early origins. The new brand leans into storytelling as their “North Star”.

Strategic Partnerships - MìLà is involved in marketing partnerships with the likes of Uncle Roger, and others. The goal is to form partnerships that make sense for everyone involved and are not just about money.

What Followers Want - Jennifer and Caleb Liao took to Instagram polls to find out what their core audience wants to see. Turns out many want behind-the-scenes footage of the co-founders running their business and lives.

ABOUT RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS —
Restaurant Influencers is a weekly video podcast series presented by Entrepreneur Media and Cali BBQ Media. Every week host and restaurant owner Shawn Walchef (@shawnpwalchef) talks with business leaders like Shaquille O’Neal, Rob Dyrdek, Emeril Lagasse, Mayim Bialik, Jon Taffer, Robert Irvine, Aman Narang, and more, about their secrets to Smartphone Storytelling, marketing, branding, and how to show up where customers are engaging online.

Published by Entrepreneur Media - https://entreprenuer.com
Produced by Cali BBQ Media - https://betheshow.media