Tao Huabi (; born January 1947) is a Chinese entrepreneur, best known as the founder of the
chili sauce
Chili sauce and chili paste are condiments prepared with chili peppers.
Chili sauce may be hot, sweet or a combination thereof, and may differ from hot sauce in that many sweet or mild varieties exist, which is typically lacking in hot sauce ...
brand
Lao Gan Ma
Lao Gan Ma (; also called Laoganma) or Old Godmother is a brand of chili sauces made in China. Tao is a member of the
Chinese Communist Party
The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
and a
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...
deputy. In 2015, ''Forbes China'' estimated her net worth at $1.05 billion.
Biography
Tao was born in a poverty-stricken village in Meitan County, Guizhou, in January 1947. She was the eighth girl in the family and wasn't taught how to read or write. During the
Great Chinese Famine
The Great Chinese Famine () was a famine that occurred between 1959 and 1961 in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Some scholars have also included the years 1958 or 1962. It is widely regarded as the deadliest famine and one of the greatest ...
, she dug for wild vegetables and tried various ways to eat plant roots using whatever she had to try to make the little food her family had taste better.
At the age of 20, Tao married an accountant in a local geological team and gave birth to two sons: Li Guishan () and Li Hui (). Not long after, her husband became sick and she had to earn money to cover for her husband's medical costs and support her two sons. She went to Guangzhou to find a factory job as a migrant worker but after her husband died, returned to Guizhou to care for her children. She began to sell rice curd and vegetables in a street stall.
In 1989, Tao opened up her own restaurant in
Guiyang
Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...
, Guizhou, where she sold simple noodles with spicy hot sauce with soybeans. She became known as a "godmother" to poor students as she would always give them discounts and some extra food. Her restaurant began to gain popularity, particularly for its sauce. Customers would come to purchase the sauce by itself and Tao took notice. In the early 1990s, more truck drivers passed by Tao's shop due to the construction of a new highway nearby; she started giving out her sauces for free for the truckers to take home, marketing her sauce by word of mouth.
By late 1994, she stopped selling noodles and turned her restaurant into a specialty store to sell her sauces, primarily her chili oil sauce. In 1994, she borrowed two houses of the Yunguan Village Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party
The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
(CCP) in the Nanming District, recruited forty workers, and started her own sauce factory. By 1997, the company was officially listed and open for business. Though the brand was successful almost immediately after launching, it struggled to deal with competing brands with similar packaging. In 2001, the high court in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
finally ruled that other similar products could not use the "Lao Gan Ma" name nor imitate its packaging. Tao received 400,000 RMB (60,000 USD) in compensation.
Tao is also a member of the CCP and is politically active as a representative of the standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial People's Congress.
According to Chinese media, Tao has reportedly retired in 2014, with her and her youngest son Li Hui no longer being on the list of Lao Gan Ma shareholders, although the latter is still active as manager in the company. Her second and oldest sons Li Miaoxing and Li Guishan finally inherited the last 1% of her shares, in total owning 51% and 49% of the shares respectively, in order to lead on her legacy. However, after struggles and declining profits in 2017 and 2018, she returned back to an active role in managing the company in 2019 and brought it back to a growing course again.