With beginnings in a pop-up restaurant series run by founder and CEO Jing Gao in 2018, Fly by Jing quickly evolved into a beloved D2C condiment brand aimed at “rewrit[ing] some of the false narratives about Chinese food.” The company brought chili crisp to the mainstream, and since then hordes of companies have followed with their own takes on the product, from Momofuku to Trader Joe’s.
“What we really wanted to do was illustrate the fact that this is a product that is not going to fit into your expectations or perceptions of what Chinese food should be,” Gao told NOSH in August. “We wanted to illustrate that [Chinese food] is not a monolith. Your perception of it or your strong belief in what it should be is probably due to a lack of exposure to what else is out there.”
Fly by Jing spread its wings into new categories and channels in 2021, supported by a $5 million investment from Prelude Growth Partners in August. With this new capital, the brand debuted several new innovations, including Fire Hot Pot Base and a three-SKU frozen dumplings line.
The brand also developed refreshed packaging this year to better communicate its mission of challenging consumer perceptions around Chinese food, which supported the retail debut of its signature chili crisp and spice offerings in Sprouts nationwide along with some regions of Target, Whole Foods and Costco.
As it amped up its marketing and continued to build its chili crisp-loving community, Fly by Jing also wasn’t afraid to take risks. This year, it launched an OnlyFans account as a way to allow its consumers to “connect in new ways, whether that’s over a bowl of noodz or something completely different,” according to Gao, while donating $1 for every subscriber to grassroots organizations supporting the rights and safety of sex workers.
