MEMORIES:
davidf05 remembers...I haven't had La Choy in a long time, probably since I was a teenager. I've always liked it though. ... More »
Posted on 09/23/08
PHOTOS:
CATCH PHRASE:
With a history stretching back over 80 years, La Choy has been a primary resource for Midwestern Chinese fare for decades. Unless you were lucky enough to live in a city with a population large enough to support international restaurants, finding diversity in cuisine wasn’t always easy. Today, things are different, with franchises like Panda Express seemingly everywhere. But in the 50s, and 60s (and in some cases, even the following couple of decades) your only choice for Chinese food was to be found in an assortment of cans at the grocery store. East met west in the form of La Choy.
La Choy’s roots go back to the University of Michigan – a result of a friendship between Wally Smith and Ilhan New. Smith had a grocery store and wanted to offer something different to his customers. Ilhan New, a Korean, knew how to grow bean sprouts -in a bathtub, no less. They proceeded to can the sprouts and were surprised when they actually sold. By 1937, La Choy was formed and they opened their first manufacturing plant. World War II caused the plant to close, though a new interest in exotic foods emerged following the war, allowed them to open up a new plant in Ohio, from which they were able to take their operations to a national level. Soon, ads with the Muppets and the famous La Choy Dragon were all over television sets across the nation and an ethnic foods industry was born. Offering items such as chow mein, chop suey, little addictive crunchy noodles, and of course bean sprouts, La Choy made it possible for everyone to try something new.
And while most people might find the idea of canned Chinese food somewhat unappetizing, the fact is, the food wasn’t bad and it was easy to prepare; you didn’t even need a wok. It introduced generations of people to water chestnuts, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and many other items that they likely would have never had an opportunity to try otherwise. And once people took the chance and found out how yummy the food was, they were more apt to try something more authentic, spawning numerous Chinese restaurants around the country. So the next time you run into a Panda Express, consider for a moment that if it weren’t for La Choy, they might not even exist. And for that alone, it might not hurt to show a little gratitude.
