The increasing popularity of Asian food presents many exciting business opportunities, but also some challenges. Many of these specialty restaurants are family-owned, and lack the corporate structure you'll find at larger chains. And a lot of them are located in rural places that make centralized distribution difficult. Servicing these types of businesses requires a personal touch, and a lot of relationship building to understand their individual needs. That makes the barrier to entry pretty high, and creates a pretty large moat around the companies already established in the sector.

That includes HF Foods Group, led by CEO Felix Lin. HF trades on NASDAQ under the symbol HFFG and they are a leading distributor of international and specialty foods service solutions to restaurants, wholesalers and other customers in the food supply chain in the United States. Before taking on the role of CEO, Felix served as President and Chief Operating Officer of HF Foods Group and has been a key part of developing, implementing, and executing on the company's comprehensive transformation plan.

Felix joins us to discuss how HF Foods Group made such strong inroads in the Asian food market, and how they plan to leverage their position in the marketplace, and smart capital allocation, to create opportunities for future growth.

Highlights:

• The history of HF Foods (3:17)
• The popularity of Asian foods (4:53)
• Customer loyalty (5:57)
• Product offerings (8:02)
• Navigating market disruptions (10:23)
• Distribution networks (12:32)
• M & A Strategy (14:00)
• Outlook for the international food space (17:34)
• Strategic plan for HF Foods (20:04)

Links:

Felix Lin LinkedIn

HF Foods Group LinkedIn

HF Foods Group Website

ICR LinkedIn

ICR Twitter

ICR Website

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, marion@lowerstreet.co.