The newest partnership between Laoban’s and Bachan’s reflects both brands’ commitment to authenticity and flavor-first innovation.
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When Whole Foods approached Laoban about a limited-time holiday product, the frozen food disruptor had a better idea: skip the seasonal gimmick and partner with another rising Asian brand instead. The result—Laoban x Bachan’s Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken with Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce—hits stores nationwide this week, marking a milestone moment in the mainstreaming of Asian flavors in U.S. grocery aisles. It’s a natural pairing: Laoban’s cult-favorite crispy chicken meets Bachan’s beloved multigenerational family recipe, creating a heat-and-serve dish that reflects both brands’ commitment to authenticity and flavor-first innovation. For Laoban CEO Patrick Coyne and Bachan’s CEO Justin Gill, the collaboration represents more than a product launch—it’s proof that AAPI-founded brands can scale nationally, command premium shelf space, and reshape what American consumers expect from the freezer aisle.
With Asian-inspired frozen foods already generating billions annually and both brands expanding at breakneck speed, their partnership offers a blueprint for scaling authentically in today’s competitive grocery landscape.
The Partnership
Dave Knox: How did the two brands first connect and begin the discussion around a partnership?
Patrick Coyne: When we were preparing to launch our Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken at Whole Foods, we got to chatting with our Category Merchant there. He mentioned that they had a seasonal opportunity for limited time offer (LTO) holiday products that would be featured on the endcap. That got our wheels turning, and we proposed the idea of a fun LTO as a collab opportunity, rather than a holiday-only item—typically, something cranberry-flavored or whatever. They were into it, so we started to think of the brands we’d be most excited to partner with, and Bachan’s immediately came to mind. We admire those guys so much, how they’ve been able to create this new category and develop such a devoted following. We reached out to propose the idea to them and it came together fast. We first connected in April and it’s already on shelves.
Justin Gill: We’d been mutual fans of one another for a while. Laoban’s focus on quality ingredients and authentic flavor really aligns with what we’re all about at Bachan’s. Once we started talking, the collaboration came together pretty naturally. It was one of those “let’s make something delicious together” moments.
Knox: This is the first collaboration for both brands. Why did you choose to collaborate instead of just developing your own fully branded product?
Gill: This isn’t our first collaboration, Bachan’s worked with Nona Lim back in 2021 on a packaged noodle product. Our collaboration with Laoban felt very natural from the start. Their Taiwanese-style popcorn chicken and our Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce come together in a way that feels natural and tastes delicious. It’s an exciting opportunity to bring two like-minded, flavor-driven AAPI brands together and introduce Bachan’s to new fans, especially in the freezer aisle, which is a whole new space for us.
We are a disciplined organization and the freezer section of the store is not a space that we are actively pursuing as we still have a lot of room to grow within the condiments category, and that remains our main focus for now. Doing product collaborations is a great way for us to reach an incremental consumer without stretching our own capabilities and veering away from focus on our core business.
Coyne: We’ve never collaborated with another brand this way. We’ve just been focusing on nailing our own product line and then delivering consistently. But it’s so much fun making food with people you like. We had fun with it in our dumpling shop days: when we were starting at Union Market, we partnered with the bagel shop Call Your Mother on a pastrami, shrimp, and rye dumpling and Chef Kevin Tien at Moon Rabbit on a lemongrass dumpling. It’s cool to take those risks and hopefully reach a wider audience, and we feel like we’ve grown mature enough as a brand to do it on a big scale.
Knox: Both brands have incredible brand equity. As you worked on the collaboration, how did you ensure that you stayed true to those equities for the consumer?
Gill: We were able to stay true to our own brands via partnership. We expressed how we wanted our brands to show up with this product and we executed on that vision. We did it with mutual respect and consideration and I’m very happy with how the end product expresses both brands’ values, assets, and personalities.
Coyne: The collaboration had to make sense from a product perspective. This definitely makes sense—when we talk to our customers, the number-one pairing they bring up is the combo of Bachan’s BBQ sauce and Laoban products. We made sure the balance of flavors, the sauce-to-chicken ratio, and everything else was on point and reflected our brand identities. We even looked closely at the packaging, which had to look beautiful and represent us equally, all the way down to the sauce packets in the box.
Knox: Asian flavors are moving from niche to mainstream. How does Bachan’s see itself shaping that movement in U.S. grocery stores?
Gill: Absolutely, Asian flavors are becoming part of everyday American cooking. I think Bachan’s is a significant part of that movement, along with all of the other incredible Asian brands out there making authentic Asian products. The modern consumer cares about authenticity, and we’re proud to be one of the brands they are seeking out.
Consumers are more familiar with authentic Asian flavors than ever, thanks to travel, dining experiences, and more diverse communities. Millennials and Gen Z, especially, are adventurous eaters who grew up around a variety of cuisines. During the pandemic, people started cooking at home more and experimenting with big, bold flavors and that really helped Bachan’s find its way into kitchens across the country. That trend stuck and is now becoming a standard as time sharing a meal with family and/or friends becomes more precious, in this digital age we are living in.
I believe that one important factor for an Asian brand to become mainstream is for that brand to be inclusive, approachable, and accessible – while still remaining authentic to their culture and who they are as a brand.
For me, it’s incredibly rewarding to share a sauce inspired by my family’s Japanese-American heritage and see people embrace it in the mainstream. Food is such a powerful way to connect cultures.
Scaling Without Compromise
Knox: Both brands have seen significant growth in recent years. Bachan’s has grown into more than 25,000 stores nationwide while Laoban has gone from startup to Whole Foods’ Supplier of the Year and the Inc. 5000 list. What has been the biggest driver of that rapid expansion?
Gill: The biggest driver has been the consumer love that we have been fortunate enough to earn for our brand and sauces. That love has driven demand and velocities in-store and that has in turn helped us earn new distribution with our valued retail partners across the country. We are highly incremental to our category, bringing new shoppers in, and our retail partners value that incrementality. At the end of the day, we put a tremendous amount of focus on making the best products we can and in the long run, that has paid off for us. Our customers trust Bachan’s and we hold that trust in the highest regard.
Coyne: All the time we spent with our restaurant really prepared us for this type of rapid growth. By the time we launched retail, we’d been operating for a few years. We had all that time to work out recipes, build up our production capacity, and figure out how to talk to people about our products.
Knox: How does a collaboration like this with Laoban fit into your broader growth strategy?
Gill: At Bachan’s, we always lead with authenticity. Every partnership and product has to feel true to who we are. Collaborations like this one with Laoban allow us to connect with like-minded brands and reach new audiences, all while staying rooted in our values and our flavor-first approach. When done right, product collaborations can be a powerful way to reach new consumers and that is part of our long term growth strategy.
This partnership is a great way to show how versatile Bachan’s can be. For us, there is no better way to introduce Bachan’s to new customers than for them to actually try our sauces. We’re honored to be featured in the frozen section of Whole Foods alongside another AAPI-founded brand. Collaborations like this help us reach new customers while celebrating cultural flavors in an authentic way. It’s a win for both brands and for everyone who loves good food.
Knox: When you launched packaged products, Laoban’s bet on retail from day one, while so many peers prioritized DTC? What has that meant for brand discovery and velocity?
Coyne: We were very attuned to customer experience—we know how often deliveries are delayed, and we didn’t want someone’s first experience with us to be a shabby box of thawed-out dumplings. We also didn’t want to ask people to spend $50 just to try our food; we wanted them to pick up a box for $7 at the grocery store. That felt like a more reasonable ask.
Knox: Whole Foods and Costco have tapped you as an innovation partner. How did you secure those relationships, and what does that level of trust mean for a startup
Coyne: I think they recognized how focused we are on giving people what they want, in a way that’s maybe different from the traditional large CPG company. Those companies have entire divisions devoted to innovation. We have proximity to consumer tastes, thanks to our years with restaurants and the constant, immediate feedback we received. But I think trust is only possible if you follow through. We have to actually do what we say we’ll do: deliver products that provide that flavor on time and in full, consistently. It is surreal that places like Whole Foods and Costco have that level of faith in, essentially, two guys off the street, when there are CPG conglomerates that have VC funding and massive teams built to do this stuff.
Knox: Whole Foods is an early adopter of innovative food trends—what does it mean for Bachan’s to be featured in this national exclusive?
Gill: Whole Foods has believed in us almost from the beginning, and that support has meant the world to me personally, and to my team. They set the standard in the natural foods space, so having their endorsement really validates our commitment to cold-filled sauces made with simple, real ingredients. We launched our dipping sauces with Whole Foods first in 2024, and we couldn’t ask for a better partner to bring this Laoban collaboration to market.
Building for the Long Term
Knox: You’ve reached national scale without VC or institutional funding. How have you financed growth, and what advantages has a capital-light model given you?
Coyne: We’ve received support from extremely helpful individuals in our network, folks who’ve had success and have been generous with advice and resources. I think being capital-light has kept us focused on the food and the customer—the things that really matter and helped prevent us from getting distracted by things that don’t. In some ways, not raising huge rounds has allowed us to stay nimble and keep innovating quickly.
Knox: Bachan’s is rooted in a multigenerational family recipe. How do you stay true to those origins while scaling so fast?
Gill: We have a set of brand values that we run every decision we make through, as if they were stage gates. If something is not aligned with those values, we don’t do it. Those values ladder up to our origins, multigenerational family recipe, traditions, and heritage. It’s actually pretty simple and that is how we like to keep it. Keeping things simple is core to who we are at Bachan’s.
Knox: Consumers want authentic global flavors with convenience. How does Bachan’s balance tradition and accessibility?
Gill: I couldn’t agree more. As far as authenticity, our Original Japanese Barbecue sauce comes from my family’s multigenerational recipe, coming from Japan and passed down to me by my Bachan. We make our Original Japanese Barbecue sauce with the same ingredients that we used in our family recipe. We honor the tradition of using clean, simple, authentic ingredients that honor our Japanese American heritage, and we always will.
For convenience, the modern consumer wants authentic flavor for their meals that doesn’t sacrifice on quality, but delivers on convenience. It’s quite a process to make a sauce from scratch at home and not everyone has the ability or time to do that. The trick is to find a bottled sauce that has the flavor of a sauce made from scratch. For Bachan’s, that flavor comes from our ingredients and our cold-fill process. So, it is convenient and checks the authentic global flavor boxes that most consumers are looking for.
Knox: Laoban is now a Top 3 frozen brand at Whole Foods. What did you do differently from competitors to achieve that share of shelf?
Coyne: First and foremost, we’re focused on flavor. That’s what’s most important; that’s what keeps people coming back. After that, it’s about access. If people want to come back, help them do it. Take dishes they know and love into grocery stores, where they maybe couldn’t find them before, and make those dishes easy to prepare at home without too much trouble.
Knox: With Asian-inspired frozen foods generating billions annually, where do you see Bachan’s in the category over the next five years?
Gill: Right now, we’re focused on doing what we do best, which is making the best sauces possible. That’s our lane, and we’re proud of it. As I look into the future for Bachan’s, my vision is to create the first iconic Japanese American flavor brand. We are building a platform for authentic Japanese American flavor that we think will transcend the categories we are in today. Frozen is an interesting category, but that’s a long way off for us.