10 Luxury Food Gifts from Asian, American, and Pacific Islander Food Brands

Asian American, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month just ended, but the celebration of AANHPI’s marks and achievements shouldn’t be limited to the month of May. While this month-long celebration is certainly important, let’s not forget the importance of recognizing these contributions throughout the year.

It’s also worth noting that AANHPI’s consumer spending power is growing exponentially, surpassing $1.6 million in 2024, according to Nielsen. Even as the fastest growing consumer group, Asian foods remain underrepresented in markets and grocery stores. Joining AANHPI brands not only helps level the economic playing field, but is also an important step toward racial quality as hate crimes in Asia continue to rise. To join our support, here are 10 luxury gifts from AANHPI brands fighting for representation that also happen to be absolutely delicious.

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Founded by Chinese Americans Jennifer Liao and Caleb Wang, the brand name, meaning honey and spice in Mandarin, highlights their dual American and Chinese heritage in what they consider a “third culture” generation . Instead of having two distinct identities, they view their heritage as a mixture; the brand name therefore signifies inclusiveness and accessibility. The couple created MìLà to celebrate and preserve the best of Chinese culture and cuisine. MìLà’s Soup Dumpling Experience includes everything you need to start making soup dumplings at home, including pork and chicken dumplings, sauces, bowls and a bamboo steamer basket.

Lady M Cakes

Ken Romaniszyn, of Japanese and Ukrainian descent, runs Lady M Cakes. He took over the initially struggling business, turning it into a multi-million dollar global business over the past decade. At least 20 layers of delicate crepes make up each of Lady M’s decadent cakes, nicknamed Louis Vuitton cakes. Their Dassai Blue Mille crepes are soaked in sake for a luxurious, boozy host gift or birthday treat. It’s decorated with gold leaf and white chocolate sake kasu icing, and the vanilla sponge cake is soaked in Dassai Blue 23 sake.

Steal by Jing

Founder Jing Gao reclaimed her birth name after changing her name to Jenny in Europe in her youth to adapt to the Western world. As she grew up, she became deeply proud of her heritage and Chinese cuisine. Its brand, Fly By Jing, showcases the flavors of Chengdu and is best known for its Sichuan Chili Crisp. Get the By Jing Box for six of their most popular sauces, a three times hotter Xtra Spicy Chili Crisp and an ultra crispy Chengdu Crunch.

Junbi

Founded by two Asian American couples, Junbi aims to share the benefits of matcha with the world. A more than century-old team farm in Uji, Japan, supplies the product and has several physical stores across the United States. If there is no store nearby, order online. Try their Matcha Kit, which even a beginner can use to discover homemade matcha. It includes a bamboo matcha whisk, bowl, sieve, ladle, stand and the brand’s Daily Ceremonial Matcha.

Nguyen Coffee Supply

First-generation entrepreneur Sahra Nguyen’s family fled Vietnam by boat. She founded the first specialty Vietnamese coffee company in the United States to promote cultural integrity. Nguyen Coffee Supply also supports Vietnamese farmers through direct exchanges with Mr. Ton, a fourth-generation farmer in Vietnam, who supplies the brand’s organic green beans. The Original Vietnamese Coffee Trio is a great introduction to the brand, featuring three 12-ounce bags of their most popular coffees, including their best-selling Loyalty, which packs 25% more caffeine punch than blends made with Arabica.

Cabi Foods

Cabi Foods aims to combat the idea that home-cooked Japanese cooking is difficult and intimidating. Japanese American founders Eri and Miki discovered that their friends were completely unfamiliar with common Japanese ingredients like mirin and dashi. The Soy Sauce Tasting Palette showcases the wide variety of soy sauce flavors beyond the familiar dark soy sauce. From white to traditional brown/black soy sauce, these are brewed for three months to three years.

Swirling Milk Tea

Pauline Ang, originally from Hawaii, founded her latte milk tea company to provide a much-needed plant-based version of this popular Hong Kong treat. It eliminates artificial flavors and is made from pea milk, single-origin, non-GMO organic tea. A good introductory gift is their Twrl Milk Tea variety, which comes with two boxes of all their flavors: Taiwanese Style Black Milk Tea, Ube Milk Tea, Pu’erh Jasmine Milk Tea, and Pu’erh Jasmine Milk Tea. Hojicha roasted green milk.

Drink Without By Taejin

Sobriety is rarely discussed in the Asian American community, and Bling Empire’s Kevin Krieder wants to normalize the conversation. Instead of alcohol, this tasty drink contains ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine, such as ginseng, adaptogens and L-theanine. The Dragon Ginger or Ginseng Apple Guava twelve flavor pack makes a great welcome feel-good gift for the hostess.

Socola Chocolatier

Chocolatier Wendy Lieu co-founded Socola Chocolatier with her sister Susan as a DIY business selling directly to friends and family. It has since grown into an award-winning company with clients including Tiffany & Co. and American Express. Socola means chocolate in Vietnamese, and while there are traditional truffle flavors, they specialize in highlighting Vietnamese flavors such as durian and soda chanh. Splurge on the ultimate Chocolate Lovers gift set with over 50 pieces of Socola’s most popular truffles, bars and confections. To continue celebrating AAPI Month, get their Little Saigon Box dedicated to Vietnam’s most famous flavors.

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This Filipino brand is founder Alexandra Dorda-Marcu’s love letter to the Philippines, highlighting the little-known fact that her country is one of the world’s leading rum producers. Pick up a bottle of their Kasama Rum to taste a seven-year-old Filipino spirit. This is a small batch and its flavor profile includes sea salt, pineapple, and vanilla.