Ep. 224 – The Evolution of American Tofu: From Ancient Dish to Plant-based Meat with Minh Tsai, CEO of Hodo Foods

My Food Job Rocks!

Minh Tsai started Hodo Foods with a simple farmer’s market stand after finishing up a wealthy career in investment banking and I asked him, why? His answer surprised me, but within context, it makes sense. Minh is someone who’s addicted to learning and solving problems and the intricacies and growth of the business has kept him in the tofu business for a little less than 16 years. Not only can you buy Hodo tofu in places in Whole Foods, Safeway and Target, but they also supply to Chipotle!

We go through a variety of topics in this episode ranging from how Hodo’s factory is dealing with the pandemic, Asian humility, Minh’s incredible journey at Hodo as well as its challenges and innovations which pair in hand with some interesting tofu science facts.

We also get into a very passionate discussion on blending plant-based meat and animal-based meat, and if you follow this podcast often, know about my experiences with that, and also talk about partnerships. Namely how Minh helped get a well-known upcycling company called Renewal Mill off the ground, where they were able to commercialize Hodo’s soy waste stream into great products.

About Minh and Hodo

Minh Tsai, Founder and CEO, Hodo

Today, Hodo is one of the most original and sought after plant-based brands in the US. But Vietnamese refugee Minh Tsai never expected he’d be running such a company. Minh simply decided to make the delicious, organic artisan foods he grew up eating in Vietnam, but found elusive in the US. He started with one farmer’s market stand in the San Francisco Bay Area 15 years ago.

Through innovating his own take on wholesome, traditional methods, Hodo products quickly became must-have ingredients for renowned chefs. Now, Hodo is found in ingredient-driven restaurants from Chipotle to Benu and Daniel, and in thousands of retail stores nationwide including Whole Foods Markets and Target.

About Hodo

Hodo handcrafts delicious, wholesome, organic plant-based foods for people who love to eat well. We use artisanal methods only, and we source every ingredient thoughtfully. Proudly made in Oakland, California. Beginning with one farmer’s market stand and growing to thousands of retail stores and restaurants nationwide, Hodo’s innovative yet traditionally-made products quickly became a favorite of renowned Chefs and home cooks alike. Hodo is served by ingredient-driven restaurants from Benu and Daniel to Chipotle, and retail stores from Whole Foods Markets to Target.

Show Notes

We’ve always had good food safety programs, COVID just amplified Meat factories getting Coronavirus Unfortunately, COVID and worker safety is all about controlling the probability. We have to find ways to increase the probability Has the pandemic slowed or accelerated sales?: We have a diverse sales demographics. Food services plummeted but retail and online grew really fast What do you tell people in a sentence or less?: I’m in the food business. But if they’re curious, they will dig deeper. If I say I make tofu or plant-based food, they just like up light up How often do you tell people that you’re the CEO of Hodo Foods?: Almost never Asian Humility Why don’t you like talking about yourself?: I like talking to the person, not the status. I don’t think it’s that interesting until context is made such as someone who’s working for a food company It monopolizes the conversation unfortunately Ideally, without context, you might not get a prolific conversation Describe the steps to get to where you are today: I always wanted to nourish people and wanted to work at the UN. I ended up going to Investment Banking because I couldn’t get a job because I was so new. I ended up moving through the ranks in investment banking What was the time where you decided to jump into tofu? I’d call myself an auto-didact, someone who keeps on learning I would end up being in M/A, then equity capital markets, and then I quit because I didn’t get the people I was working with. My manager asked me to work over Christmas and I said “no” to him. I didn’t understand why he had to work over Christmas and New Year while they were making millions and millions of dollars Did a little bit with a small consulting company working with dot.coms building buisnesses Then Charles’ Schaub On Money: Though we all care about Money, I’m in the United States, I can learn everything and I can reinvent myself any time. And that’s why I started a tofu business I started a tofu company when artisan was taking over. IE: Blue Bottle and CowGirl Creamery You first start by making food and once your friends tell you it’s good and would buy it, you might have something What made you feel confident about differentiated yourself: From the time we started Hobo, no one is able to make what we make It’s mainly because our process was really hard and our brand was really new Why did you decide to do hard tofu patties?: People liked it and you have to pasteurize it Mapo Tofu My Food Job Rocks: Some days are really hard but things are always different and I’m always learning Renewal Mill (see episode 4): I met Clare when I was speaking at Harvard Business School. I mentioned that we have a waste product that we produce and Clare reached out to pursue that idea. That now became Hodo Foods Regrained uses a distributed scale Renewal Mill will use their technology to do other byproducts How much Okara is produced?: It’s a 1:1 ratio of tofu to Okara. One pound of Soy beans should give you 1 lb of Okara Why help out Renewal Mill?: Why not? It’s a business. It also helps our image I wish we could talk about more things at Hodo Foods but we don’t have Paul Shapiro – Business For Good We generally treat all of our customers as partnerships. If they ask for something, we will try to innovate and help out What advice would you give people who are feeling down in today’s economy?: Forget the current climate. To start a food buisness, the barriers remain the same. You have to go through brokers and distributors. Try and sell in different channels. Perishability is a huge deal. You don’t need a national brand to be successful. There are plenty of small, local brands who are doing amazing. Reach requires more money and more cost In thisi climate, online is more critical than ever before. The shipping can kill us though Bread SRSLY Instacart, Imperfect, Sunbasket, Purple Carrot, etc Frozen is actually more stable than Refriderator Where can we find you for advice?: [e-mail]. You can bug me, but I don’t have a lot of patience dealing with common questions. I advise a few companies as well