Ask any hot sauce enthusiast about their favorite condiment and be ready to hear a detailed list of the spicy products their kitchens are never without. Within the past few years, many of those fans have added Fly By Jing to this roster. Specifically, to the tune of over 2.25 million jars of the brand’s signature Sichuan Chili Crisp. It’s the same recipe that Founder and CEO Jing Gao developed in her hometown of Chengdu some years ago when she moved back to the Chinese province of Sichuan and was driven to reconnect with her heritage through food.
Gao’s personal discovery soon led her to not only share her passion through a series of dinner parties but eventually, she created a line of pantry staples that honor traditional flavors while reaching and resonating with brand new audiences. Today you can find her products—including spice mixes, vinegars, oils, and mouth-tingling sauces you’ll find yourself pouring on everything from dumplings to ice cream—on shelves at Whole Foods and Target.
Now, on the heels of the five-year-old brand’s major $12 million Series B announcement this March, Gao joined Argent for Office Hours to share some of the truths behind bringing the flavors of her home to consumers across the globe, navigating a market where businesses founded by women and people of color remain underfunded, her first cookbook coming this fall, and the prevailing power of one’s authentic voice.
WHAT DID THE BEGINNING OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER LIFE LOOK LIKE? AND HOW DID YOU COME TO SHIFT TO A FOCUS ON FOOD AND FLY BY JING, THE POP-UP AND THE PRODUCTS?
“I started my professional career in brand management and tech, but pivoted to food as a way to reconnect with my heritage when I moved back to China in my 20s. Fly By Jing was born out of my passion for sharing the delicious flavors of my hometown Chengdu. It began as an underground pop-up dinner series where I introduced diners all over the world to the bold layers of flavor in Sichuan cuisine. Eventually, as I saw the success of the dinner series, I decided to take some of the recipes I developed, like my Sichuan Chili Crisp, and turn them into a line of thoughtfully crafted pantry staples.
“I launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2018 to raise capital for production, which I also used as a sort of litmus test to see if there was interest in high-quality Sichuan products in the U.S. market. The success of the campaign gave us the opportunity to expand the brand with additional products and allowed us to build a loyal community of supporters. My goal as I built the brand was to take the Sichuan flavors that I love and make them accessible to consumers across the globe. To this day, every single one of our products is intentionally made in the Sichuan Province with the highest quality, all-natural ingredients.”
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR RECENT SERIES B! HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP YOUR FUNDRAISING EXPERIENCE FOR FLY BY JING SINCE ITS START, MOVING FROM ITS INITIAL KICKSTARTER IN 2018 TO TODAY?
“Fundraising is never an easy journey, but there are infinitely more setbacks that female and POC founders face. There are more demands on us to prove our businesses which unfortunately means we need to bootstrap for longer. On the flip side, I was able to preserve a lot more of my equity than if I was easily able to raise seed financing pre-revenue. The biggest lesson I’ve learned throughout this process is the importance of building a sound, sustainable business with a clear value proposition and profitable price point. When you have those things and customers clearly want your product, investors will inevitably follow.”
FLY BY JING’S SUCCESS HAS BEEN METEORIC IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS. BESIDES AN INCREDIBLE QUALITY OF PRODUCT, WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU ATTRIBUTE MOST TO YOUR COMPANY’S SUCCESS? AND WHAT PERSONAL QUALITIES, AS A FOUNDER, DO YOU CREDIT FOR YOUR SUCCESS, AS WELL?
“People are drawn to brands with an authentic voice, and I would say the same thing about founders. We always say that we’re not traditional, but personal. What that means is that Fly By Jing doesn’t conform to or abide by anyone else’s ideas of value, taste, or tradition. For example, there are countless recipes for Sichuan chili crisp, and the flavor profiles are so layered and deep that it’s more than likely that one person’s recipe will taste much different than someone else's. All Fly By Jing products are conceived and created by me, so inherently these are going to be a reflection of my vision and story, and I think that’s what makes the products special. Storytelling has always been at the core of the brand, and that really seems to resonate with people, which can help lead to long-term success.”
"Being fearlessly yourself takes courage, hard work, and a leap of faith. Faith that you are always exactly where you need to be, and headed exactly where you need to go."
IN PAST INTERVIEWS, YOU'VE SPOKEN ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE ASSIMILATING FOR MANY YEARS AND THEN LATER COMING TO MORE FULLY EMBRACE AND CELEBRATE YOUR CULTURE AND THE HISTORY OF SICHUAN COOKING. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO FELLOW ENTREPRENEURS WHO FEEL LIKE THEY NEED TO FIT IN A CERTAIN MOLD OR FEAR SHARING THEIR MOST AUTHENTIC SELVES IN ORDER TO SUCCEED?
“Being fearlessly yourself takes courage, hard work, and a leap of faith. Faith that you are always exactly where you need to be, and headed exactly where you need to go. That trust in myself didn’t come easy, and was the result of a lot of unlearning and shifting of old paradigms, but it’s ultimately what gave me the confidence to lean into my voice, which had reverberations way beyond just myself. I would encourage founders on this journey to explore somatic healing practices like meditation and breathwork, to help move energetic blocks through the body and clear the way for that inner light to shine through.”
WHAT HAS FLY BY JING TAUGHT YOU ABOUT YOURSELF AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND CEO? AND HOW HAS ITS SUCCESS INFLUENCED HOW YOU SEE FUTURE POTENTIAL FOR YOU, YOUR BRAND, AND TO A LARGER DEGREE, THOSE WHO ASPIRE TO FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS?
“Fly By Jing has been a vessel to give me a voice I didn’t know I had, and to allow me to take up space that I didn’t know I could. The most incredible part of this journey has been witnessing the power that this reclamation of self had to create space for more to do the same. Four years ago, I couldn’t have imagined that this sauce I cooked up in my small Shanghai kitchen would one day help to shape the way we eat in this country. To see our products on the shelves of Target and Whole Foods is a feeling only rivaled by the pride in seeing the rising tide of mission and vision-driven brands created by founders of color in the market today.
“This journey has given me appreciation for all the creators, dreamers, and doers out there, for their sacrifice, the value they create, and for not giving up. Twentieth-century thinker and inventor Buckminster Fuller defined precession as the effect of bodies in motion on other bodies in motion, and through precession, all of our actions are changing the world.”
AND FINALLY, YOUR FIRST COOKBOOK IS COMING OUT THIS FALL! WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO CREATE THIS BOOK, WHY NOW, AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO FIND IN IT?
“When I founded Fly By Jing in 2018, I didn’t anticipate that our Sichuan Chili Crisp would reach the immediate level of popularity that it did. To date, we’ve sold over 2.25 million jars of our Sichuan Chili Crisp, and we’ve created a new category in the hot sauce space. Through our products, we’ve been able to start bringing Chinese flavors out of the so-called ‘ethnic’ aisle and into the mainstream. My ultimate goal is to make Fly By Jing products as ubiquitous as Heinz ketchup, and the best way to do that is to show Western consumers how they can use a sauce like our Sichuan Chili Crisp in everyday recipes.
“I createdThe Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp: Spicy Recipes and Stories from Fly By Jing’s Kitchen(launching this Fall on 9/26!) to do just that. Rooted in tradition but adapted for the modern kitchen, the cookbook includes 85 Sichuan Chili Crisp-inspired recipes that invite people to explore the nuances of Sichuan flavors and experiment with new ingredients at home. It is designed to show how nearly every dish can be elevated with Sichuan’s complex flavors, all while taking the reader on a unique journey from my hometown to their own kitchen stove.
"We want to remind readers that their cult favorite chili crisp can be added to just about everything: pour it on salads, use it as a marinade for proteins, dip for dumplings, or amped up desserts. From snacks like Zhong Dumplings and Deviled Tea Eggs, main dishes like Hongshao Carnitas Tacos, Fish Fragrant Crispy Eggplant, and Spicy Scallion Oil Noodles, to desserts and drinks like Chili Crisp Sundae with Fish Sauce Caramel Brittle, Poached Pear in Sichuan Pepper Syrup, and Baijiu Negroni.
“This is more than a cookbook for me. It gives people a taste of my personal story, reflections on the long history of Sichuan cuisine, and the challenges I’ve encountered along the way.”
The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp: Spicy Recipes and Stories from Fly By Jing’s Kitchen is available for preorder now.
Illustrations by Bijou Karman
She’s Worth a Follow
Find Jing on Instagram.
