From social media star to entrepreneur; from illiterate to global icon; from heiress to business leader; from waitressing to the boardroom, whether through entrepreneurial flair, taking a family business to the next level, or climbing the corporate ladder, women are extremely influential at all levels of the food & drink industry in China.
This post celebrates the achievements of six women from the food & drink industry that have become business icons in China. Not only do each of these women have a fascinating and inspiring story to tell, their success shows the best of the Chinese people’s ingenuity, work ethic and ‘can do’ spirit that has spurred development there at a pace never seen before in human history for over 40 years and counting.
Li Ziqi
Li Ziqi is a celebrity vlogger and, with over 14 million subscribers, has the most watched Chinese language YouTube channel, as well as being one of the most popular vloggers inside China as well. Her videos show an idyllic rural life and portray her making intricate and delicious recipes from scratch.
Li was born in Mianyang, Sichuan Province, in 1990 and was brought up by her grandparents in the countryside. When she was 14 years old, Li dropped out of school, travelled to the city in search of work, and once worked as a waitress and DJ in a bar to make a living. However, when her grandmother fell ill, Li moved back to the countryside and turned adversity into fortune through her vlogging. Initially, she used just her mobile phone and a basic video editing app, but now there is a whole production team involved – although Li still directs all her videos.
Since 2018 Li Ziqi has used her profile to promote her own brand of food, health and beauty products, which are widely available online in China. Her videos now often focus on the traditional production methods that inspire these products and they have proved wildly popular, selling the equivalent of over $100 million in 2020.
Tao Huabi
Tao Huabi is the founder of Laoganma, an iconic Chinese chilli sauce brand. Originally a home recipe, Laoganma is now used by home cooks the world over and Forbes estimates Tao to be worth $1.05 billion.
From humble beginnings, Tao opened a street stall selling homemade rice noodles in 1989. In 1994 she moved her stall to be next to a highway and gave truck drivers a free jar of her chilli sauce when eating in her restaurant. The delicious sauce went 90’s viral among the truck drivers and soon people came to the restaurant just for this sauce. In 1996, Tao began manufacturing commercially in a small factory, still making the sauce by hand. Today Tao’s multiple factories produce 430,000 jars a day and her products sell in more than 30 countries.
Tao’s story is even more amazing as she was illiterate until well into adulthood and had to be taught how to sign documents. When she was finally able to write her own name, she invited all her staff for dinner to celebrate.
Xu Yangyang
At only 32, Xu Yangyang became one of China’s richest women following the 2015 IPO of Dali Foods Group, known for its snacks and drinks offerings. As daughter and heir apparent to the founder, Xu has been fundamental in taking the company public and its future direction.
Xu graduated from Xiamen University in 2005 and later studied in the UK before joining the family business. In 2014, she was appointed as a board member at Dali and took responsibility for Dali’s listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which was the biggest IPO of a consumer goods company in 2015. Her 40% stake in the company was valued at over $400 million after the IPO. Xu is widely seen as the future of the company and has led Dali’s efforts at broadening its range and working with university research institutes on innovation within the food industry.
Cheng Xue
Cheng started her career as an office clerk and climbed the corporate ladder to the top. Since graduating in 1997, she has spent her entire career at Haitian Flavouring, a listed company manufacturing sauces and flavourings, and now sits as vice-chairman along with being one of China’s richest businesswomen.
Cheng holds a 9% stake in Haitian Flavouring and her personal fortune is estimated at $10 billion, making her the wealthiest executive in China, according to the Hurun rich list. Her wealth mainly comes from her subscription for shares, and her shareholding is second only to the founder, Pang Kang. Her stake has quadrupled in value since Haitian’s IPO in 2014.
Zang Jianhe
Zang Jianhe, AKA the dumpling queen, is the founder of Wanchai Ferry, a famous frozen ready meal brand. Wancahi Ferry is the most successful brand in the category, accounting for roughly 10% of the frozen ready meal category in China.
In 1977, Zang began hawking her homemade dumplings from a wooden cart at the Wanchai Ferry pier in Hong Kong. The delicious taste of her dumplings was recognised by not only her customers, but also the Daimaru Department Store, which was the first Japanese department store in Hong Kong and thus attracted many customers. However, Zang refused Daimaru twice before signing a 20-year cooperation contract with a guarantee of keeping her Wanchai Ferry brand independent.
With the investment and connections offered by Daimaru, Wanchai Ferry extended its offering from just frozen dumplings to other frozen foods and became the top brand selling frozen products in Hong Kong. In 1997, General Mills acquired Wanchai Ferry, and its cold-chain technology helped Wanchai Ferry to enter the mainland China market where it established itself as a household name.
Yang Lijuan
At only 42, Yang is the youngest on the Hurun list of China’s richest executives, with an estimated personal fortune of $1.9 billion. Starting work as a waitress at Haidilao, now China’s most famous hotpot chain, she managed to work her way up to her current position of Chief Operating Officer.
Yang was forced to drop out of middle school and start work in order to help pay off family debt. At seventeen she was working at a local hotpot chain and her friendly service was noticed by customer, Zhang Yong, who at the time was looking for suitable waitresses for his new rival, Haidilao. In 1994, Yang Joined Haidilao as one of the restaurant’s first employees.
Her hardworking attitude and friendly demeanour impressed Zhang and Yang was handpicked to lead Haidilao’s second outlet. Yang’s experience as a waitress led to an obsession with the high levels of customer service that became Haidilao’s trademark. Yang was subsequently promoted up the ladder at Haidilao until becoming COO and became instrumental in the expansion of Haidilao nationwide to become China’s most popular hotpot chain.