79-Year-Old Lao Gan Ma Founder Makes Dramatic Comeback with AI, Driving Revenue to Record 5.4 Billion Yuan
SingTao · 2 SOURCES1 day ago6 MIN
Summary
Lao Gan Ma, the beloved Chinese chili sauce brand known as the "national chili sauce," has staged a remarkable revival under the leadership of its 79-year-old founder Tao Huabi. After years of digital inactivity—leaving its official Weibo account unaudited, stopping WeChat updates, and abandoning livestreaming for nearly a year—the company made headlines by quietly integrating artificial intelligence into its production processes over four years. The investment paid off handsomely, with 2025 revenue reaching a record 5.4 billion yuan, solidifying Lao Gan Ma's dominance with approximately 55% market share in China's chili sauce industry, more than ten times that of its nearest competitor .
Key Points
- In 2014, Tao Huabi retired and handed management to her two sons Li Guishan (李貴山) and Li Miaohang (李妙行), who later switched from premium Guizhou chili to cheaper Henan alternatives, triggering a "chili controversy" that sent revenues tumbling from 45 billion yuan in 2016 to 42 billion yuan by 2021
- The 72-year-old Tao Huabi returned to the company in 2019, immediately reversing the ingredient change and restoring Guizhou chili to revive the brand's reputation
- Lao Gan Ma invested several hundred million yuan in AI transformation, deploying vision inspection systems using high-speed industrial cameras that scan conveyor belts every 0.3 seconds to identify moldy or spotted peppers and automatically remove them with air jets
- The production line reduced pepper-sorting workers from over 600 to just 48 experienced technicians who now serve as final arbiters when the AI system encounters uncertain cases
- Every batch of chili, rapeseed oil, and soybeans is now digitally coded, allowing algorithms to trace flavor variations back to specific farm origins, achieving 100% traceability of core ingredients
Why It Matters
This story challenges the assumption that traditional family businesses cannot modernize, demonstrating how decades-old manufacturing expertise can merge with cutting-edge AI to preserve product quality at scale. For Hong Kong consumers who grew up with Lao Gan Ma on their dining tables, the revival ensures continued access to authentic flavors while showcasing how traditional food manufacturers across the region might leverage technology to maintain competitiveness against increasingly sophisticated global food brands .
This story challenges the assumption that traditional family businesses cannot modernize, demonstrating how decades-old manufacturing expertise can merge with cutting-edge AI to preserve product quality at scale. For Hong Kong consumers who grew up with Lao Gan Ma on their dining tables, the revival ensures continued access to authentic flavors while showcasing how traditional food manufacturers across the region might leverage technology to maintain competitiveness against increasingly sophisticated global food brands .