Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Han.
Hi Christopher, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My work experience varied from working for the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs as a Real Estate Fraud Investigator, being a Job Coach with Goodwill working with people with disabilities, being a car salesman, and being an insurance broker’s assistant. As varied as these jobs were, I carried one thing from each, superb customer service skills.
During 2019, my wife and I started our own business called Vania’s Gogo Foods (named after her of course). We wanted to start selling a sweet and spicy Korean gochujang sauce that’s always become a staple of our household. We named it Vania’s Gogo Sauce and planned to start our new venture selling at local Farmer’s Markets, online, and in stores. Unfortunately, the COVID19 pandemic hit and we were unable to join any markets due to the restrictions. Thankfully, we were allowed to start the markets in 2020. We started our business with only 1 sauce.
We then added Vania’s Garlicky Chili Oil and Vania’s Garlic Confit to our list of items shortly after. It didn’t take long for us to discover that an average person can only go through so much sauce in a week so we added a product that was easily and quickly consumable. It was then that we added Onigiri (rice balls) to our list. We have a Beef Bulgogi w/ Kimchi, Ginger Miso Oyster Mushroom, Teriyaki Spam, Spicy Chicken w/ Kongnamul(marinated sauteed beansprouts), and Smoked Salmon w/ Yuzu creamcheese, microgreens, and cucumber. We also have a special chef’s special onigiri that changes every week!
You can meet with us at the Monrovia Farmers Market on Friday nights from 3pm to 9pm, Saturday mornings from 7am to 2pm at the Marina Del Rey Farmers Market, Sunday mornings from 7am to 2pm at the Melrose Place Farmers market, Wednesdays at the Trojan USC Farmers Market, and we’re now selling our onigiris at the UCLA Ackerman Student Union store. You can also find our sauces at Monsieur Marcel at the Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Thankfully, things have been smooth for us thanks to the advice of many friends, family, fellow vendors, and the community.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Vania’s Gogo Foods?
We are a small Los Angeles area business specializing in making a Sweet and Spicy Korean gochujang sauce called Vania’s Gogo Sauce, a garlic chili oil called Vania’s Garlicky Chili Oil, Vania’s Garlic Confit, and various onigiris. You can find our sauces on Vaniasgogosauce.com and our onigiris at local Farmers Markets. Onigiris are Japanese rice balls but we add Korean or nontraditional fillings in them to set ourselves apart from the others.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Don’t give up on your dreams. Always be willing to learn something new. We never would’ve thought that we’d be small business owners but sometimes life takes us on adventurous paths.
Pricing:
- Vania’s Gogo Sauce $14.00
- Vania’s Garlicky Chili Oil $18.00
- Beef Bulgogi W/ Kimchi Onigiri $6.75
- Teriyaki Spam Onigiri $6.75
- Ginger Miso Oyster Mushroom Onigiri $6.75
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vaniasgogosauce.com
- Instagram: vaniasgogosauce
Image Credits
Zifei Zhang
