I'd never given any thought to those little packets of soy sauce that I get with my takeout dim sum Now I know....and so do you. 😀
When a row of empty red-and-yellow soy sauce packets spins to a stop, the automatic packaging machine at WN Foods doesn’t skip a beat. Inside the active Hayward factory, hundreds of takeout packets under the Double Hi Brand logo move through a conveyor belt every few minutes. Silver tubes fill the empty sachets with liquid umami before the packets fall into boxes at the end of the runway, ready to ship to more than 100 restaurants in the state.
If you rustle through your condiment drawer at home, chances are you’ll find a packet or two of Double Hi Brand soy sauce. That’s because, since the late 1960s, local Asian restaurants have generously stuffed WN Foods’ Double Hi soy sauce packets into takeout orders. Former WN Foods President David Hall introduced a packaging machine to his family business, never dreaming it would take off. Nearly six decades later, David continues to spot Double Hi Brand soy sauce, sweet and sour, pot sticker sauce, and Chinese hot mustard throughout Bay Area restaurants.
“Every time I see a package, I’ll look and see who made it and say, ‘Hey, that’s one of ours,’” said David, a spry 85-year-old.
Soy sauce has been ubiquitous at WN Foods since 1942 when the company got its start in San Francisco’s Chinatown. For David and his son Greg Hall, 61, the Double Hi takeout packets represent an unwavering history of entrepreneurial spirit and serve as a reminder of how far WN Foods has come.
The Bay Area condiment empire that started in a Chinatown basement
Greg
Preparing for the March with Christine making sure that all is in order.
