Brand Architects: Caryl Levine & Ken Lee of Lotus Foods

In 1995, a young couple sat down to dinner in a remote Dai minority village in China. What happened next would change the American food landscape forever.

Join Bora Celik as he chats with Caryl Levine and Ken Lee, the founders of Lotus Foods.

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"When you're in China, you usually sit down to bowls of white rice," Caryl Levine recalls. "But that evening, we were served a bowl of steaming black rice. It had the look of a midnight sky."

That first taste was transformative. The rice had a "roasted nutty flavor with almost a hint of fruit," unlike anything they'd experienced before. For Caryl and Ken Lee, two entrepreneurs-in-the-making exploring China in search of business opportunities, it was love at first bite.

The next morning, they rushed to the local market, eager to learn more about this mysterious "hei mei" (black rice). What they discovered was even more captivating than the taste – a centuries-old folk tale that would become the foundation of their brand.

"The vendors told us this was 'tribute rice' or 'longevity rice,'" Caryl explains. "Because of its nutritional value, it was reserved exclusively for the emperors to ensure their long life and good health."

Walking through the Forbidden City later, Ken had a flash of inspiration: "We'll call this Forbidden Rice – the emperor's exclusive grain."

From "Nobody" to America's Top Kitchens

Back in San Francisco, the couple faced their first reality check. A restaurant sommelier pulled Ken aside with some blunt advice: "Ken, you're nobody. These chefs are not gonna have time to see you to talk about rice."

But Caryl and Ken had a secret weapon: innovation. They sent small samples of their exotic black rice to San Francisco's top chefs, and something remarkable happened – every single one wanted to meet them.

Thomas Keller. Alice Waters. Roland Passot. Gary Danko. These weren't just any chefs; they were the culinary artists shaping America's food culture. And they all saw something special in this mysterious black grain.

"Chefs don't have time to travel the world looking for exotic ingredients," Ken explains. "Here we were, bringing them something very exotic and very delicious. This black rice on a white plate almost became the center of the plate."

Building a Brand One Grain at a Time

For seven and a half years, Caryl kept her job at UC Berkeley while Ken built their business from the ground up. They bootstrapped with credit cards, juggling zero-percent financing offers across 20 different cards. Friends and family invested small amounts, which the couple promised – and managed – to repay.

Their growth strategy was methodical. They started with high-end restaurants, then asked each chef about their distributors. Those distributors became their gateway to hundreds more restaurants. When they entered retail, they used the same approach – from individual stores to regional distributors, slowly building their network.

"We were like modern-day Marco Polos," Ken reflects. "Going somewhere and bringing these treasures back."

Beyond Business: A Mission Takes Root

But Lotus Foods became more than just a business selling exotic rice. In 2006, they discovered a revolutionary farming method that would transform their mission. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) used less water, fewer seeds, and no chemical fertilizers. Most importantly, it reduced methane emissions from flooded rice fields – the third largest source of human-caused methane on the planet.

"Just by changing how rice is grown, you can have economic, social, and environmental impacts," Caryl explains. "That doesn't get better than that."

Today, after three decades, Lotus Foods has evolved into a force for change in global agriculture. They've helped stabilize farming communities, brought men back to farms they'd abandoned for city jobs, and enabled children to attend school through improved family incomes.

"There's a lot of work yet to be done," Ken says, but their journey proves that patience, persistence, and a commitment to both quality and sustainability can transform not just a business, but entire communities.

From that first bowl of black rice in a remote Chinese village to pioneering sustainable farming practices across Asia, Caryl and Ken have shown that the best business stories often begin with a simple moment of discovery – and the courage to pursue it, one grain at a time.

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