Din Tai Fung – The Birth of a Heritage Brand

Many have tried or at least heard of the famous dumplings from Din Tai Fung. The humble beginning of this brand started long before the start of the Din Tai Fung from cooking oil business. It was also named one of the world’s Top Ten Best Restaurants in 1993 feature of the New York Times. Further, it was also previously awarded the prestigious one Michelin star among other accolades.

How it all began

Mr Bing-Yi Yang is the founder of Din Tai Fung. He was born in 1927 in China’s Shanxi Province and later moved to Taiwan for better opportunites. He worked at Heng Tai Fung, a cooking oil store as a delivery man. His boss who was impressed with his hard work, promoted him within two years of his service to look after the accounts. But due to business loss, the store was forced to shut down, leaving Mr Yang unemployed.

Mr Yang moved on to open his own wholesale oil company purchased from Din Mei Oils. In appreciation of the ex-boss Heng Tai Fung, he named his new store Din Tai Fung. After tinned oil went on sale in 1972, sales at Din Tai Fung dropped. Mr Yang and his wife soon branched out to sell Xiao Long Baos (Steamed Pork Dumplings). Shortly, due to the exceptional taste of these dumplings, the business took off through word of mouth.

As a result of the huge success of the dumpling side of business, Mr Yang gradually transformed Din Tai Fung into a full fledged restaurant. In addition to the Xiao Long Baos, the restaurant has a many mouth watering dishes and celebrity fan following.

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