Lani Chan here, co-owner/founder of Big Spoon Sauce Co. We are a farmers market-based chili crisp brand, established in Sonoma County in 2021. Our award-winning original recipe (nearly 20,000 jars sold!) is a maximalist cocktail of spices and textures, and is a universal crowd-pleaser for eggs, noodles, eggy noodles, dumplings, grilled cheese sandwiches, oysters, and so on. The Big Spoon Sauce Co. chili crisp lineup also includes a savory fermented soybean sauce called Magic Beans, an extra spicy habanero and Carolina Reaper sauce called Dragon’s Booty, and a rotation of seasonal recipes developed in collaboration with Sonoma County growers.

This chili crisp project was born out of a desire to bring some locality and craftsmanship to a category of Asian condiments usually dominated by mass production. My co-founder Nate and I share a passion for connecting with people through food and hospitality. We drew on years of cocktail bartending experience to develop our first recipe, then leaned on seasonality to expand our product line from there. Today, we are proud to have grown a community around the love of Chinese flavors, featuring the best locally-sourced ingredients this region has to offer! It’s been an honor to teach you to fold and cook dumplings, to share a bowl of jook (congee) on a chilly winter morning at the farmers’ market, and to have even been the first taste of chili crisp for some of you!

I'm here today to ask for community support.

What happened

Earlier this year, we faced an unexpected legal challenge that has resulted in us needing to transition away from the name Big Spoon. Legally, all I am permitted to say on the matter is the following:

‘The Parties have agreed to resolve the dispute outside of court. Big Spoon Sauce Co. will abandon its registered trademarks and rebrand its business and products to no longer use the term ‘Big Spoon.’ Neither business received payment as part of the settlement. Both parties look forward to full resolution of the matter and moving forward with their respective businesses.’

After arriving at this resolution, it took several months to figure out what to do next. This experience had a substantial impact on both Nate and I. It piled onto health challenges we were already managing and coincided with a difficult life transition. We seriously considered selling off the rest of our inventory and closing up. We’ve taken the better part of this year off from in-person events and farmers markets in order to deal with these matters privately.

The words of support and encouragement came from all over since the news of our legal predicament spread. I read every email and message. These notes truly felt like a lifeline. Thank you for sending them. It was comforting to know that Sonoma County was feeling our absence from community events as much as we were, and that our customers across the country were rooting for us to keep going.

It helped us make the decision to take on the project of rebranding the business so that we can continue operating.

What we need

The costs of a professional rebrand for a growing consumer packaged food company are steep. While a packaging redesign was on our long-term roadmap, being forced to undergo a rebrand now means taking on a major expense that we weren’t prepared for.

Your donations will go toward hiring two creative professionals here in the Bay Area who will assist with developing 1) a new name and 2) a design refresh to accompany our new brand identity. I am deeply grateful for these two talented humans for offering their services at discounted rates given the circumstances. Donations will also help cover the costs associated with re-applying for our trademark registrations.

Any funds raised beyond our goal will assist in the setup of our new warehouse and prep space. This was a huge step for us as a business, one which I’m hoping will help us emerge from this chapter stronger than we were before. Having our own space is the first step in getting our chili crisp into retail locations outside of Northern California, and in offering more in-person events like workshops, popups, and club gatherings.

It has been a privilege to work alongside the rich community of farmers, makers, and chefs in Sonoma County for the last four years. Today, your support means everything. It will enable us to continue doing what we’re most passionate about: sharing Asian culinary heritage far and wide using Sonoma County-grown ingredients.

We can’t wait to share more bold flavors with you as [TBD!] Sauce Co.

Thank you!