To lead the creative direction, she found a perfect partner in Mah, an aspiring poet and artist who also had experience in brand-building and marketing for companies such as Raze, fashion-tech startup Unspun, and Gen Z-oriented beauty brand Everyday Humans.

“I’ve always liked the idea of taking old or ‘boring’ products and making them a cool or fun thing, not just for the sake of being cool but actually helping you to realise the good things about them—because they’re made and they’re there for a reason,” says Mah. “It’s just that people don’t realise it.”

To this end, Chen and Mah have transformed the company’s Hong Kong arm into an experimental brand lab of sorts: key to their approach is centering the marketing around the needs of Millennials and Gen Z, for whom the pair can envision Fukien Old Wine becoming the Asian equivalent of making pasta with wine—something you can cook with and also drink as part of a cocktail.

“​​It’s a little clichéd, but we want to sell this lifestyle and this personality—that’s why we’re creating merchandise as well,” says Mah, in a nod to the brand’s short-sleeved button-downs inspired by the outfits of waiters at the famed Australia Dairy Company diner in Hong Kong’s Jordan district. The pair also plan to host cocktail events, cooking classes and community activations at their two stores in the districts of Sai Ying Pun and North Point; with an eye on using Hong Kong as a launchpad to bring the brand into Chinese communities from Singapore to Seoul, and eventually, the US and the UK too.

“You can do whatever you want anyway,” says Mah with a twinkle in her eye. “Nobody’s stopping you; and nobody set a rule that says you can’t do anything of that kind.”

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The year was 2011, and as the world reeled from the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan’s Fukushima prefecture, for Square Jao, then a production designer based in Taiwan, the moment prompted a turn inwards: an examination of the impact of her own diet and lifestyle, and of those around her, on the environment and ecology.

It was the beginning of a journey that would lead to Jao opening Plants Eatery, Taiwan’s first gluten-free, whole-food restaurant, with her partner and co-founder Lily Lin; Jao was named a Gen.T honouree by Tatler in 2022 for her efforts in popularising sustainable eating. Now, in the wake of yet another era-defining period of upheaval, the couple’s commitment to creating food that nourishes the body as well as the environment has never been more relevant.

Over the course of the pandemic, “the conversation around health went from ‘we should be healthier’ to ‘we must be healthier’,” says Jao. “Our customers also went from a very niche market to a much wider [range of people] of different ages and genders.”

For all the detriment that the pandemic wrought on society, she hopes that it will at least have the same large-scale effect that Fukushima had on her, in spurring more people to eat healthily and become more conscious of the impact that food has on animal welfare and the global ecosystem at large.

While the number of vegetarians and vegans living in Taiwan is particularly high—a survey conducted in 2020 by the Taiwan Vegetarianism Promotion Association found that 3.1 million Taiwanese, or 13 per cent of the population, was vegetarian putting it in the top three most vegetarian populations worldwide—many of them observe a plant-based diet for religious reasons: most are Buddhist ovo-lacto vegetarians and many dishes feature processed mock meats.

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With the opening of Plants Eatery in 2016, Jao and Lin introduced a strictly plant-based, gluten-free menu that advocated the use of whole ingredients while banning the use of refined sugars, salt and oils from the kitchen.

For Lin, a make-up artist-turned-chef who became aware of her own allergy to gluten after working in a bakery in Vancouver, raw food has served as a dietary sanctuary—though it hasn’t been easy convincing Taiwanese diners of its benefits. “We [learnt to] compromise because local customers still like warmer food, but we still have a lot of raw components; for example, I will still throw some lettuce in a curry rice dish just to balance it out.”

By their count, at least 10 other plant-based eateries have opened in Taiwan since Plants Eatery first flung open its doors. And the restaurant’s influence doesn’t stop there: Jao and Lin have also published a cookbook that collates all the recipes from their first three years of business. The purpose, says Lin, is to “show people how we actually make the food, how time-consuming it is; because a lot of the dishes are raw, we need to ‘cook’ the food at below 45 degrees Celsius, [in addition to] dehydrating ingredients in the dehydrator for up to a day or two.”

Secondly, adds Jao, the goal for the cookbook is to promote a plant-based diet on a scale beyond the restaurant’s four walls. Culinary schools are a particular focus for the couple, who believe that the emphasis of the local curriculum on theory over practice, as well as the lack of Chinese-language plant-based and gluten-free recipe books, is stymieing the proliferation of the cuisine among the next generation of chefs.

Jao and Lin are trailblazers in another sense, being accomplished wife-and-wife restaurateurs. The secret to their success? “When working with your life partner, you definitely feel more trust and mutual support. I’m also older than Lily by four years, so I’m more mature,” says Jao with a laugh—to which Lin adds, “She has more wisdom!”

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What do you get when you cross a creative director and a venture capitalist, both Japan-born third-culture kids who grew up in the US? Cabi, a new condiment brand, was founded by Eri Miyagi, the creative director, and Miki Nomura, the venture capitalist, to bring the flavours of Japan to Gen Z and Millennial home cooks looking to whip up quick, fuss-free and tasty dishes, be it a weeknight salad or a range of sharing dishes for friends.

Cabi’s debut trio of made-in-Japan seasonings—umami dashi soy sauce, sweet yuzu vinegar and zesty sansho peppercorn miso—are subtle reflections of the ingredients’ Japanese heritage and awareness for artisanal craft, as well as proof of an understanding of the lifestyle and eating habits of young urban professionals.

“Cabi is unique to Japan, but as the world [is getting] smaller and smaller, we have created these flavours to share our culture that can be used in any type of cuisine in a way we love and think is authentic,” says Miyagi.

Key to Cabi’s appeal is the ease with which the seasonings are meant to be used. The soy sauce, which incorporates dashi for an extra umami edge, is the brand’s most versatile product, while the sweet yuzu vinegar lends itself well to salads or even drizzled on top of ice cream. Finally, the sansho peppercorn miso is perfect for marinades or meat dishes, adding a welcome aromatic kick. The use of koji-based fermentation in the production process also translates into better gut health—an aspect which the pair believe will catch the attention of mindful consumers.

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The idea to launch a condiment brand came about, says Miyagi, when the duo first met in Tokyo through a mutual friend. “It is becoming more common, but it’s not easy to find a Japanese woman who wants to start a business; we immediately connected as ambitious women in a stubbornly male-dominated work culture.” A shared love for food, as well as a love for sharing food across borders and cultures led to the creation of Cabi.

Though neither had any professional experience in the food industry, they were initially confident that their chosen specialisations would dovetail well with the other. “Quite frankly we thought our experiences would serve us well; however, consumer packaged goods, or CPG, is a completely different game,” admits Miyagi.

While Miyagi’s visual expertise gave the brand a distinct, approachable identity and Nomura’s background in venture capital helped in forecasting and structuring the finances, the duo were unprepared for aspects of the business like logistics, inventory management and distribution that are an inseparable part of the process.

“We can’t exist without people who have helped us along the way. Things are never straightforward,” Miyagi acknowledges. “Coming from a creative field, there is always more of a routine and fewer variables in terms of the service you provide, but in CPG the variables change quite a bit month to month. We enjoy problem-solving and we know it’s a part of it.”

Building a brand from opposite sides of the globe has also been a unique challenge of its own, but Tokyo-based Nomura and Brooklyn-based Miyagi credit their constant communication, organisational skills and complementary capabilities with making Cabi a reality. At the end of the day, says Miyagi, “It’s like a long-distance relationship!”

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