What immi Stands For

In the early days of building immi, the most important thing we did was decide what we stand for.

Today, we wanted to share our mission and values with you.

immi’s mission is to enrich lives through the vibrant world of Asian American food.

Enrich Health

Our families were following unhealthy diets with the food they loved. As they got older, they started suffering through chronic health conditions in the form of diabetes, high blood pressure, and more. 

Together, we convinced our families to change their eating habits and start eating healthier. 

With immi, we’re reimagining our favorite Asian American foods with added nutritional benefits and high quality ingredients to enrich the health of lives everywhere.

Enrich Perspectives

We started out seeing the world differently as third culture kids straddling immigrant and American cultures.

We believe that experiencing cultures through other cuisines encourages people to travel more, try new experiences, and enrich perspectives.

Our Values

• Quality above all: We will always create foods that are the best tasting and best for your health. We promise to be your trusted partner and will never sacrifice on quality.
• Nourishment is for everyone: We believe that nourishment is a basic human right. We seek to make nourishing food available to everyone.
• Redefine the standard: We seek to redefine the standards of the food we create and the way we build our company. We’re not afraid to push the boundaries of what’s possible or what’s been done before.
• Food is an adventure: We believe that food is a canvas for playful expression and experimentation. Let’s see the world the way we once did, full of endless possibilities and fun.

We stand by our core values and look to them as our north star whenever we come to any crossroads that require us to make tough decisions.

You might be curious how this actually plays out in our day-to-day decision making.

Here are a few real examples that came up while building immi:

Example 1:

We discovered another ingredient supplier who was willing to sell us an ingredient for 70% of the price we would normally pay.

Upon closer examination, we found that the quality of their ingredient wasn’t fully up to par and their nutritional profile was worse.

Knowing that we’ll always focus on quality, we went back to our original supplier, and ate the higher cost at a detriment to our business.

We’d rather give up that extra margin than sacrifice the quality of our final product.

Example 2:

As a small business, we don’t have economies of scale or negotiating leverage. This means that we face higher costs for every piece of our final product (ingredients, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, etc…).

In order to survive and continue bringing immi products into the world, we’ll have to price immi ramen at a significantly higher premium price when we first launch. 

However, we’ve done everything in our power to push for nourishment for everyone: whether that means subsidizing immi ramen for those in need, or working to pass on cost savings in our supply chain to our customers as we scale.

Example 3:

In the early days, everyone told us that we couldn’t build instant ramen with the nutritional profile that we were looking for. 

We spent close to two years in the kitchens redefining the standards of what’s possible in instant ramen.

We weren’t afraid to try new ingredients that people haven’t seen in a traditional ramen noodle. 

Others told us not to build immi so transparently. They worried that we’d invite criticism or help competitors. 

But we welcome all criticism that will help us grow and serve you better.

And we welcome more entrants into the ecosystem who will help produce better food systems.

Example 4:

When one of our culinary advisors from Iowa who loves grilling came to visit us in California, we learned that he had never been to an Asian BBQ experience: Korean BBQ.

We brought him to one of our favorite Korean BBQ spots in the Bay Area and exposed him to dozens of dishes he had never eaten before.

He was so grateful because there weren’t any Korean BBQ joints where he lived and he might never have had this experience in his life without us (he’s a grandpa now!). 

He now has a different perspective on BBQ’ing and tries incorporating different Korean spices when he grills back home in Iowa for other friends.

There are tons of examples like these that happen every single day, but know that we’ll always have your best interests at heart ❤️.

This is our commitment to you 🙏.