La Choy facts for kids
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| Owner | ConAgra Foods |
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| Introduced | 1922 |
La Choy is a well-known brand that makes canned and prepackaged ingredients for American Chinese food. This means they sell foods like sauces, noodles, and vegetables that people use to make Chinese-style meals at home. The brand was bought by ConAgra Foods in 1990 and is still owned by them today.
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How La Choy Started
La Choy was founded in 1922 by two friends, Dr. Ilhan New and Wallace J. "Wally" Smith. They met at the University of Michigan. Their very first product was canned mung bean sprouts. Wally Smith first sold these sprouts in his own Detroit, Michigan, grocery store.
Dr. New left the company in 1930. Sadly, Wally Smith passed away in 1937. Even with these changes, the company continued to grow. By the late 1930s, La Choy offered many different food products. These included bean sprouts, soy sauce, kumquats, water chestnuts, brown sauce, bamboo shoots, and chow mein noodles.
Americans were becoming very interested in foods from East Asia. La Choy took advantage of this interest. In 1937, the company built its first factory in Detroit. It had a large space of about 60,000 square feet for making food.
Moving and Growing
During World War II, La Choy needed to save money. So, in 1942, the company moved its factory from Detroit to Archbold, Ohio. This new location was about 90 miles away. La Choy sold its Detroit factory to the government, which used it to make supplies for the war. The money from this sale helped the company start fresh in Ohio.
In 1943, a company called Beatrice Creamery Co. bought La Choy Food Products. This was a big step for the brand.
On June 23, 1957, three leaders from the La Choy company appeared on a TV show called What's My Line. They all had Irish last names, which made it hard for the show's panel to guess what they did!
Fun Advertising
La Choy has had some memorable advertisements over the years.
The Muppets and Delbert the Dragon
From 1965 to 1967, Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, made TV commercials for La Choy. These ads featured a special Muppet character named Delbert the La Choy Dragon. Frank Oz performed Delbert, and Jim Henson provided his voice.
Delbert's catchphrase was "quick cooked in dragon fire." This was a fun way to describe how the food was prepared. Later, a shy character named Mert, also performed by Jim Henson, joined Delbert in the commercials. Delbert was one of the few full-body Muppets that Frank Oz performed.
Other Related Foods
- Mein gon (these are crunchy chow mein noodles)
- Chop suey
- Chow mein sandwich
