La Choy (stylized La Choy 東) is a

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

of canned and prepackaged American Chinese food ingredients. The brand was purchased in 1990 from

Beatrice Foods Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food conglomerate founded in 1894. One of the best-known food processing companies in the U.S., Beatrice owned many well-known brands such as Tropicana, Krispy Kreme, Jolly Rancher, Orville Reden ...

by ConAgra Foods during the LBO firm

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...

' dismantling of the company and is still currently a property of ConAgra.

Early history

The company was founded in 1922 by Dr. Ilhan New, later founder of Yuhan Corporation in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and Wallace J. "Wally" Smith from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. The first product, canned

mung bean sprout Mung bean sprouts are a culinary vegetable grown by sprouting mung beans. They can be grown by placing and watering the sprouted beans in the shade until the hypocotyls grow long. Mung bean sprouts are extensively cultivated and consumed in East ...

s, was originally sold in Smith's

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

. New left the company for personal reasons in 1930, and Smith was killed by lightning in 1937. Nevertheless, the company flourished. By the late 1930s, management at the firm had developed a comprehensive line of food products, including bean sprouts,

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

, subgum, kumquats, water chestnuts, brown sauce, bamboo shoots, and chow mein noodles. The company capitalized on the growing fascination Americans had with

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

, including an entirely different type of cuisine. In 1937, the company built its first manufacturing facility in Detroit, featuring of production space. To reduce overhead costs and maintain profitability during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, management decided to relocate the company from its facility in Detroit about to

Archbold, Ohio Archbold is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Fulton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,516 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located about southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, Archbold is home to Northwest Stat ...

, in 1942. Selling its Detroit plant to the federal government for the production of

munitions Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...

, the proceeds from the sale enabled the company to start a new era in its history. In 1943, the Beatrice Creamery Co. purchased La Choy Food Products. On June 23, 1957, three principals of the La Choy company, all from Archbold, appeared as contestants on the TV panel show '' What's My Line''. As all three men had Irish surnames (Muldoon, McCarthy, and McDonough), they managed to stump the panel.

Marketing and advertising

A popular advertising

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

from the 1970s included the slogan "LaChoy makes Chinese food swing American."

Muppets

Early in his career,

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

created a series of television commercials from 1965 to 1967 featuring a Full-Bodied Muppet character called Delbert the La Choy Dragon (performed by

Frank Oz Frank Richard Oznowicz (born May 25, 1944), known professionally as Frank Oz, is an American puppeteer, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his involvement with Jim Henson and George Lucas through ''The Muppets'', ''Sesame Street'', and '' ...

and voiced by

) which used the catchphrase "quick cooked in dragon fire" to describe the product. Delbert was accompanied in later commercials by a timid character named Mert (performed by

). Delbert was one of Oz's few full-bodied Muppet performances, since he did not like performing in their costumes.

Notes

External links

Official website

La Choy at ConAgra Foods

Muldoon, McCarthy, and McDonough on ''What's My Line''
(June 23, 1957) {{ConAgra Conagra Brands brands Products introduced in 1922 American Chinese cuisine Noodles American companies established in 1922 Food and drink companies established in 1922 1922 establishments in Michigan

Early history

Marketing and advertising

Muppets

See also

Notes

External links