Yun Hai 雲海® offers a selection of premium ingredients for Taiwanese and Chinese cooking. We source directly from artisans, farms, and soy sauce breweries in Taiwan. Terrain, technique, history, and humanity come together in the traditional foods we distribute.

Our team helps small food businesses based in Taiwan prepare their product for commercial import to an eager audience in the United States. We intend to bring visibility to the culture, cuisine, and independence of Taiwan while offering a selection of fine and fancy ingredients for Taiwanese and Chinese cooking.

CEO Lisa Cheng Smith (left) founded Yun Hai in 2018 with the intent to bring visibility to the culture, cuisine, and independence of Taiwan through its foodways. She views her role as a distributor as a way of participating in Taiwanese foodways, opening a connection between Taiwan’s producers and their audience in the United States.

COO Lillian Lin (right) was born in New York and raised in Taipei. Having grown up on night markets and bento shops, she's always on the look out for good Taiwanese food. After a few years as a management consultant, she's followed her stomach into a career in food, spanning food stands, restaurants, and CPG products.

Yun Hai 雲海 ® means “sea of clouds”—it describes a phenomenon that happens high in the mountains of central Taiwan. In the afternoon, the clouds settle lower than the mountain peaks and cover the land in a blanket of foggy mist.  

This atmospheric effect is important for growers of Gao Shan Cha 高山茶, or high mountain tea. The dew and moisture create a climate that makes the tea tender, flavorful, and delicate. To us, it symbolizes the natural beauty of Taiwan and its populations.

Photo of XiTou National Forest Yun Hai® 2016