"We exist to help fulfill the dreams of our brand partners, to provide a meaningful career to our team members, and to give back to the communities in which we serve. "
OUR BEGINNING
YYN was founded in 2008 by Andrew Chae. Before starting YYN, he spent the prior four years building his family's food brand. Andrew was raised in an entrepreneurial household. His parents started Hawaii's first Korean grocery store and parlayed that into creating a distributorship to supply Hawaii's mainstream grocery chains. Andrew's parents then expanded their business to include manufacturing, making delicious potsticker dumplings that they shipped to the US mainland. Andrew and his brothers spent much of their childhood packing (and eating) dumplings off the production line!
After working in the branding/advertising industry for 10 years, Andrew returned to the family business in 2004. The business was doing well -- it dominated the private label market for dumplings for top-tier Asian brands in markets coast to coast. Andrew was tasked with creating a house brand for the mainstream market. He partnered with his brother James to create Ohana House, the world's first Certified Organic potsticker. James was in charge of production, labor, and getting the manufacturing facilities certified organic. Andrew was in charge of branding, sales, and ingredient sourcing. Ohana House participated in its first ExpoWest in 2005, and by 2008, it was sold nationwide via UNFI and Nature's Best (now KeHE). The certified organic products opened the door to private labeling for Trader Joe's (two SKUs are still sold in Trader Joe's today!) and are sold in Costco nationwide (under a different brand name).
Andrew's family decided to sell the business in 2007. Andrew stayed on for one year to help with the transition and then started Yin Yang Naturals to help other brands succeed in the natural and specialty foods space.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We partner with people and brands we respect.
We seek out people and brands we respect. Founders who are passionate about the mission they are on to better the health of people and lessen the impact on the environment. We represent products that we feed to our own families and brands that contribute to a more sustainable future for our children.
As a Certified B Corp since 2014, YYN strives to put action behind our words. We are measured on the impact we make on our team members, our communities, and our environment. We seek out brands that share our mission of using business as a force for good.
We act as if we are the owners of the companies we represent.
When anyone on our team walks into a grocery store, we have our brand owner hat on. While looking at the orange juice set, we ask ourselves, "If I were Matt (of Uncle Matt's), would I be happy with the placement and the assortment?" If not, let's talk to the dairy manager about it. When we are presenting to a Buyer, would Matt unconditionally offer a free-fill, or would he minimize the new placement discount where possible?
We practice Kaizen — continuous improvement — for ourselves and our brands.
We believe that every improvement, no matter how small, is important. Consistent improvements add up over time and can have a significant impact on sales. Moving shelf placement from knee level to waist level, then eventually to eye-level. Moving from one facing to double. Adding a few more SKUs to a line drive promo endcap. Ensuring all sale tags are up. Rotating products that are code date sensitive. All of these things contribute to higher sales with minimal incremental cost.
OUR MISSION:
A Commitment Beyond Business As Usual
At Yin Yang Naturals, we are on a mission to make a difference, to create positive change in the world, and to prove that business can be a force for good. Our commitment goes beyond the bottom line, beyond business as usual. We genuinely care about the impact we have on our principals, team members, and the communities we serve.
Empowering Dreams
Our mission starts with a dedication to fulfilling the dreams of our brand partners. We believe that success is not just measured in profit margins but in the lives we touch and the dreams we empower. Every product we represent, every decision we make, is driven by the desire to create opportunities for our brands to succeed and thrive in this industry.
Nurturing Careers
Our team members are the backbone of our success, and we are deeply committed to providing them with meaningful careers. We believe in creating an environment where they can grow, learn, and contribute in a way that is fulfilling and rewarding. We don't just see our employees as cogs in a machine; they are valued individuals, and their well-being is at the core of our mission. We happily offer our team generous time off, wellness stipends, childcare subsidies, and much more in order to promote a healthy work life balance.
Caring for Communities
We recognize our responsibility to the communities where we operate and are dedicated to giving back. Our B Corp certification and our partnership with 1% for the Planet exemplify our commitment to making a positive impact on the environment and society. We track and offset our mileage and home office energy usage and we also offer donation matching and 40 hours of volunteer time per year to each employee, to get out in their communities and make a difference.
B Corp
Being a certified B Corp has really served as a guide for the evolution we have been on. They consistently challenge us to grow and think in new ways as the certification process evolves and gets more challenging every year. It's with great pride that we have achieved B Corp status and we fully intend to continue this journey
1% for the Planet
As a proud 1% for the Planet partner, we go the extra mile in our environmental stewardship. This means that we are devoted to giving back a minimum of 1% of our revenue or 20% of profits (whichever is greater) to organizations dedicated to tackling the most pressing environmental issues facing our planet.
At Yin Yang Naturals, a guiding principal is that of "Kaizen" or "continuous improvement." With this in mind, we are constantly working towards being better in all facets of our work including how we are serving our brands, how we are taking care of our team, and how we can continue to evolve to decrease our impact on the planet. We are consistently aiming higher and digging deeper to make a positive difference in the world.
In short, our mission is rooted in care – care for dreams, careers, and communities.
Total volunteer hours the YYN team donated: 6,566