Four years at Goldman Sachs. An MBA from MIT Sloan. That’s untraditional training for a person whose desire is to bring umami to the masses.
“Asian food is part of my identity,” says Andrea Xu, 30, founder of Umamicart, an online retailer of 2,000 Asian and Asian-American products. Xu grew up in Spain, where her immigrant parents owned a Chinese restaurant. She ventured to New York City to attend New York University. “I was attracted to New York because of its diversity, a place where I could celebrate my culture,” adds Xu. Yet it was a challenge even there to find traditional Asian foods.
She landed at Goldman Sachs after graduation. The hours were long and the work was challenging but Xu is grateful for the diligence and critical thinking that she learned. She followed that with studies in entrepreneurship and innovation at MIT Sloan.
Yet Xu could not stop thinking about food. “Asian Americans cannot find the food they grew up with, even in major cities. I love going to Chinatown and H Mart but that takes a lot of time and effort.”
Umamicart is her answer. Launched in March 2021 with 400 carefully sourced products, the online retailer solved a problem for thousands of Asian Americans. The product assortment includes traditional Asian products, specialty foods, organic and hard-to-find vegetables, and items from Asian institutions such as Mott 46 Street Bakery.
Umamicart sells its full inventory in 13 New England and Middle Atlantic states and shelf-stable products nationally from its distribution center. The goal is to become national.
Xu’s advice: “Find a problem that you are passionate about and develop a solution.”
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Image: Umamicart