A passion for food and flavours from their home country inspired Will’s Food to start their business. With the guidance of Export Advisor Amber Piché, these Chinese staples are making their way from Salmon Arm, B.C., to kitchens across North America.

Taking their First Steps

Like many emigrants arriving on new shores, Charles Ouyang and Ann Liu retained a love of traditions. In their case, it was flavourful cuisine from China. Upon setting down roots in Salmon Arm, B.C., the duo began working on their dream of sharing delicious, authentic Chinese food with their adopted home.

Their vision, and ‘secret sauce’ behind their business, Will’s Food Inc., was to empower Canadian home chefs, regardless of skill level or access to ingredients, to whip up Chinese staple dishes – all they needed was the right sauce.

“Neither of us had worked as a chef,” says Ann, “but we loved the food from our home provinces, and we saw an opportunity to make it possible for others to cook authentic Chinese dishes at home.”

 

Leaning on Support

Along their journey, they discovered the Zest Commercial Food Hub, ran by the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society (SAEDS) and supported by the BC Ministry of Agriculture to accommodate the region’s fast-growing food and beverage sector. As an anchor tenant, Will’s Food benefits from access to shared equipment, and research and business development services. This support helped them to develop their first 10 sauces: five fried noodle sauces, four stir-fry sauces and one barbecue sauce.

 

Even with a support network in place, entrepreneurship still has a way of keeping one on their toes. The duo felt unsure what next step to take to grow their business.

Working with Export Navigator

“At that time, we knew what we wanted to do, but we didn’t know where to start. We were just blind,” says Ann. “One day, we were talking to the facility manager of the commercial food hub, and she told us about Export Navigator.”

Export Navigator helps BC businesses expand to markets outside BC with guidance about everything from packaging and marketing to attending tradeshows and finding distribution. Soon, the couple was connected to Export Advisor Amber Piché.

“From the beginning, she guided us,” says Ann. “We got our homework, and we worked away until the next time.”

Early assignments followed suggestions about researching distributors, labelling, developing a website and more. Soon, they were ready for their first major event: a local Christmas market.

“It was beyond our imagination,” says Ann, of the weekend that saw them selling 40 Flavor of China bottles in one hour. “We didn’t even know if people would like this idea of making Chinese food at home, and we sold out of everything.”

Encouraged by that early interest, Charles and Ann were hopeful of their dream to help home cooks across Canada cook authentic-tasting Chinese meals. Guided by this goal, Amber helped them to set goals and identify milestones along the way. Will’s Food successfully reached one goal after another. Today, their array of sauces can be found in Askew’s Foods stores in Salmon Arm, Blind Bay and Revelstoke, and other grocery stores, and they are in negotiations with a food distributor in Vancouver for further expansion.

Finding Success

Amber played a pivotal role in helping Charles and Ann realize the benefits of bottling bulk sauces for food services. In October 2023, Will’s Food was featured as a demo guest at ‘Pitch and Plate’, a Feed BC initiative delivered by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with BC food industry educators, Good to Grow and Feed BC public institutions. Pitch and Plate, attended by chefs and food service managers of hospitals and post-secondary institutions across the province, was an excellent platform for them to share their passion and their products.

“A cafeteria chef was very interested, and he told us when we want to try new products, we can test there.”

“Now we are making plans to export to the US,” says Ann.

Behind the scenes, they are crafting even more recipes that will unbottle the seemingly endless flavours unique to China’s many regions.

“Amber keeps pushing you. She gives you the reassurance to calm your mind and help you figure out your next goal. She also gives us the caution that we need sometimes because we are not from here and English is not our first language.”

With big but realistic plans, Ann and Charles’s son, Will, is now going to help run the business. All three are grateful for the support and guidance from Amber.

“I think we are very lucky to have Amber sharing these resources—it’s like a shortcut,” says Ann. “We have all these people around us who are giving us support and they are happy for our success.”