XCJ Aims To Expand Reach For Authentic Frozen Chinese Street Food

Frozen Chinese food brand Xiao Chi Jie (XCJ) announced it closed a $10 million funding round to expand the accessibility of its CPG Chinese food line. The round was led by Imaginary Ventures and, with the support of its new investment partner, XCJ has set out to build a generational, omni-channel Chinese food brand. The company has already expanded into a new format – frozen noodle kits – and will undergo a full rebrand in the new year, complete with a new name and look.

“We were looking for partners to roll up their sleeves and work side by side with us strategically versus being simply capital partners,” said Jennifer Liao, co-founder of XCJ. “On that note, the Imaginary team has gone above and beyond, whether it’s thinking through our rebrand, making connections to entrepreneurs and collaborators, or even just eating a ton of our products. We could not have found a better fit.”

Imaginary, which invests in “iconic, generationally defining brands,” has previously backed fast-growing CPG companies including Daily Harvest, Skims, Glossier and Nuggs, among others. The round garnered additional support from founders like Jason Wang of Caviar, Gabi Lewis of Magic Spoon and Katrina Lake of Stitch Fix, among others.

Originally founded as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Bellevue, Washington in 2018 by Liao and Caleb Wang, the second generation, Chinese American husband-wife duo was forced to pivot during the pandemic and started to ship a broad range of packaged foods – including its flagship soup dumplings, sauces, Chinese BBQ skewers and ice creams – direct to consumers nationwide. Its newest noodle line comes in Sichuan Dan Dan, Beijing Zha Jiang and Shanghai Scallion Oil varieties with an option to add either a traditional protein or plant-based, Impossible Pork.

While the restaurant has resumed operations and will retain the original name, XCJ now sees an opportunity to better convey its story and proposition for frozen-fresh, authentic Chinese street food to a national audience under a new, more flexible platform identity.

“Our original name of Xiao Chi Jie was chosen five years ago when the concept was intended to be one brick and mortar location that focused on Chinese street food specifically,” explained Wang. “The direct translation of Xiao Chi Jie is Street Food Avenue, and was very appropriate for what we started. Our restaurant location is in Bellevue, where there is plenty of foot traffic and a large Chinese population that would understand the intention and food served, quickly.”

However, Liao and Wang said customer demographics for its CPG brand span far beyond its local Chinese community and “largely match the U.S. Census mapping.” This has given it an impetus to make the brand more easily recognizable by individuals of all backgrounds. Liao and Wang believe that the new identity will also help it capture whitespace in the U.S. market and securely position it as a brand that offers authentic Chinese food that has not previously been accessible in the states. The team also said it has a “robust R&D” pipeline of better-for-you innovations, all created by a Chinese-led team.

“As a baseline, we want to be the go-to brand for honestly-represented Chinese foods,” said Wang. “As third culture kids, we get to experience the melting pot of diverse cuisines here, and are excited to also explore and help pave the way for what the future of Chinese food can look like and evolve into in the U.S. Hopefully as we continue to grow and scale, Chinese food can be introduced into many more households and what may appear “foreign or ethnic” food now, simply becomes, just food.”

The co-founders acknowledged that interest in Asian foods from both retailers and consumers has created a favorable investment landscape. Asian-inspired brands like Fly by Jing and Sanzo have paved the way over the past few years, garnering multimillion dollar investments as well as on-shelf placement in mass and conventional retailers. This growing interest in foods offering an authentic representation and experience also benefited XCJ as it looked for investors in the round.

“There was significant interest in the round as many investors are looking to find the right company to capture the trend behind the rise of authentic Asian American food,” said Liao. “Within the category, feedback we received was first on the product and customer experience, second on our ambition to build a generational brand, and third on our focus on long term unit economics.”