In this episode of Women in Motion, Lee Kantor interviews Pei Tung Wu, CEO and founder of Mochi Foods. Pei shares her entrepreneurial journey, discussing the cultural significance of mochi and her mission to innovate and popularize this unique food product. She explains how Mochi Foods simplifies mochi preparation through easy-to-make mixes, targeting both families and businesses. Pei also highlights the challenges she faced, her marketing strategies, and the growing recognition of her brand. Additionally, she emphasizes her commitment to empowering women in business and balancing her entrepreneurial pursuits with family life.
Pei Wu is the visionary founder and CEO of Mochi Foods, a company dedicated to bringing the chewy, delightful texture of mochi to kitchens and businesses worldwide.
Born and raised in Taiwan, Pei grew up surrounded by the rich flavors and traditions of Asian cuisine, which deeply influenced her passion for food. After moving to the U.S., she recognized a gap in the market for high-quality mochi-based products and set out to share the taste of home with a broader audience.
As a mother and entrepreneur, Pei has mastered the art of balancing family life with running a rapidly growing business. Under her leadership, Mochi Foods has expanded from a small venture into a recognized brand, offering mochi donut, pancake, waffle, and bubble waffle mixes, along with a variety of Asian-inspired dessert ingredients.
Her commitment to innovation and authenticity has earned Mochi Foods recognition on the Inc. 5000 list, partnerships with major retailers, and features in Hawaii Business Magazine.
Pei’s journey as a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry has been marked by resilience and determination. She proudly leads a woman-owned business, recently achieving WBENC certification, and actively supports other women in food and entrepreneurship. 
Whether developing new products, mentoring aspiring business owners, or expanding into new markets, Pei remains dedicated to her mission: making mochi an everyday indulgence for people everywhere.
Follow Mochi Foods on LinkedIn.
Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios, it’s time for Women in Motion. Brought to you by WBEC West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Women in Motion. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women in Motion, we have Pei Tung Wu, who is the CEO and founder of Mochi Foods. Welcome.
Pei Tung Wu: Hi. How are you? Thank you so much for having me.
Lee Kantor: I am doing well. I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Mochi Foods.
Pei Tung Wu: Mochi Foods is a company. I do innovation work where I create the mochi texture, and then push it, trying to innovate, and then come up with the easy-to-make mix, so every family, household or business owner, restaurant, bakery can have this unique texture mochi put it into their menu, adding to their table, and then be a great new innovation to the baking industry.
Lee Kantor: Now, for folks who aren’t familiar, can you explain a little bit about mochi? What is it? Like, where did it get started? And then, how did you get involved with it?
Pei Tung Wu: I grew up in Taiwan, where mochi is a very big of our food culture. The texture is very unique, like little chewy, soft and satisfying. After moving to Hawaii when I was 18, I missed those flavor and texture. Then, I also saw opportunity. Like, people love mochi, but they didn’t always know how to make it at home, to make it in different ways. So, that’s why the idea to come up with Mochi Foods start. I want to share the taste of our home and make it easy for the people to enjoy. It’s fun and creative way. That’s how I started Mochi Foods.
Lee Kantor: Now, in Taiwan, is it something that people make it out of the house or do they typically like go to a place and just buy it from the mochi person who makes it?
Pei Tung Wu: The traditional way is steam the mochi rice, and then you will pound it. Like pound it and let the glue come out. And then, you can use that to make it to like a mochi ball, mochi can dip it with sauce, or you can wrap it with some sweet bean paste, or wrap it even with the meat inside. So, mochi have a lot of different applications in oriental culture.
Lee Kantor: So, is it dessert, or is it a part of the entree, or it can be used in many ways?
Pei Tung Wu: Yeah, can be used in different way. It can be used in dessert, it can be used in end of the dinner, or it can be used in a savory way too.
Lee Kantor: Now, when you started the business, was it always to make kind of a mix to allow someone to just make this easily at their home or did you start actually selling kind of mochi products?
Pei Tung Wu: We started with the mix. So, the first, I create that mochi pancake, mochi donut and mochi waffle. Those three are our first launch, the three items.
Lee Kantor: And then, were you selling that like to grocery stores, or who was buying, or selling it digitally online?
Pei Tung Wu: We started selling to bakery, The Donut Shop. So, like a bakery, they have donut shops. So, we launched this mochi donut first in Honolulu, Hawaii. And then, also, the pancake, we have mochi pancake to the restaurant, to the grocery store, and even to Costco for now.
Lee Kantor: Oh. So, now, it’s just any kind of retailer that sells food products, now, that’s a place where you could possibly sell it?
Pei Tung Wu: You can or to eat it at my customer’s restaurant, and then the mochi donut shop.
Lee Kantor: Oh, wow. So, your customer is very varied. It seems like in a lot of different potential markets for you.
Pei Tung Wu: Yeah, we have from mochi donut shop, to bakery, to supermarket chain or to the grocery chain.
Lee Kantor: Now, is that just something that slowly evolved over time? You were able to sell it to more and more people because I guess it’s kind of a unique offering, right, from, like-
Pei Tung Wu: Yeah.
Lee Kantor: Do you have a lot of competition in this space?
Pei Tung Wu: I think, I create the mix. All my product is top premium rice flour. So, every batch, when you make it, it’s good. It’s to the excellent. So, you can use our mochi donut mix to make mochi donut and decorate to beautiful color and then coated with chocolate, or you can simply serve the mochi pancake at home with your family or having a mochi waffle or mochi chicken together in the restaurant.
Lee Kantor: Now, how do you kind of get the word out to let people know that this product even exists? Is that a big part of your business is just kind of telling people about it?
Pei Tung Wu: Pardon, I didn’t hear the question.
Lee Kantor: Is it difficult to kind of like… How do you market the product? How do you get it to people? How do they know about it?
Pei Tung Wu: That’s why I’m calling the mochi movement. When I founded the company in 2016, nobody knows what’s mochi. Even at the National Restaurant show, myself with my booth says Mochi Foods, and people will say, “Oh, is that your name? Is it Mochi?” I was laughing like, oh my God. That’s why my goal is to get this mochi movement to the world. So, I slowly launched store by store, working with a lot of chefs and come up with different recipes, and then test it out with the grocery store, and to get this mochi to the world.
Lee Kantor: So, how has the journey been, this entrepreneurial journey? Had you done anything like this before in your career, before you started with the mochi?
Pei Tung Wu: I believe I do. I always entrepreneur. I own [??] store, I own a bakery, and then I own… I’m always in this food industry. That’s what my passion is about. So, it’s never easy, you know, just like how to launch a business, but I believe in the product I’m launching and I believe the process. And then, just learning by doing every day is a little step.
Lee Kantor: And then, is there any kind of obstacles that you’ve overcome that you’d like to share about?
Pei Tung Wu: Of course. Launching with different channel, coming with the right packaging, study about the nutrition, and then hiring the right person, trusted partner to work together in every channel, it’s always challenging. To make sure every step is correct and then to talk to the right customer is always a challenge too. Yeah.
Lee Kantor: Now, when did you kind of get the feeling? Like you mentioned when you started, people didn’t even know what mochi was. Have you gotten to that tipping point yet where people are familiar, and are kind of seeking you out, and looking for ways to partner and work with you? Has the education about what mochi is and what mochi could be, has it spread?
Pei Tung Wu: Yes, I definitely believe so. We definitely spread this mochi movement from… we always call that smiling line from the coast to the center part. And then, we even launched Canada too, and then Europe. And then, we are growing slowly from… Mochi donut is the key. And then, now we have mochi pancake to the household with the launch with Costco. And then, next, we have more innovative product. We’re going to come out like a ready-to-eat mochi product down the road. Yeah.
Lee Kantor: Now, is there any advice you can give other entrepreneurs when it comes to your leadership skills and building a team?
Pei Tung Wu: I would say, it’s always be a passion. Surrounding yourself with good, supportive team. Be patient with yourself and keep moving forward. I would say I believe woman is very powerful and we are all capable more than you think.
Lee Kantor: Now, why was it important for your firm to become part of the WBEC West community? What did you hope to get out of it and what have you gotten out of it?
Pei Tung Wu: I’m always supporting powerful women in business, and I want to encourage this entrepreneurship in every industry. I mean, I’m me as one. And I would like to help more women down the road to be part of this journey to entrepreneur in different area. So far, the experience has been very exciting. Yeah.
Lee Kantor: Now, can you share maybe some of the challenges of balancing your family life with running a business that seems to be just exploding in popularity now?
Pei Tung Wu: Yeah. I am single mom, and then I have three kids. Balancing work and then the business world is always not easy. But I always cook for them, family time, cooking for the kids. Always remember, for me, cooking, the smell is always a memory. The moment you together share with the kids, it’s fundamental in our family. And then, when I work, I put on my 100% working hat on, and then do what I can do. Yeah, but of course, being an entrepreneur, I can be able to manage my time better. Yeah, that’s a plus.
Lee Kantor: And your role modeling how to be an entrepreneur to your children. That’s a gift you’re giving them.
Pei Tung Wu: Yes, yes.
Lee Kantor: Now, it must be so rewarding to have taken something from your culture, and then now you’re sharing it with so many people who weren’t familiar with it. And now, people are falling in love with it all over the country and the world.
Pei Tung Wu: It’s very exciting for me to, yeah, get this mochi movement going.
Lee Kantor: So, now, if somebody wants to learn more about Mochi Foods, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect with you or somebody on your team?
Pei Tung Wu: Our website’s mochifood.com. You can email us. We have website, Instagram, Facebook. Can always email us at mochi@mochifoods.com or can reach out to me. I’d be happy to look at the… Everybody’s different. Either you are a food services, want to open a store or want to create another adventure, we are always here to help on each step.
Lee Kantor: So, now, like, do you have an ideal client profile in terms of who would be the best fit for your product? Is it bakeries or is it retailers? Like who do you want to meet more of?
Pei Tung Wu: I will say bakery, for sure for food services. Right now, we’re trying to launch more retail, have our mochi pancake to be available to more retail stores. It’s our next go-to. And then, to launch some restaurant, bigger restaurant to launch mochi pancake as a breakfast menu, healthier uh, lighter version. Yeah. It’s just a different texture. Yeah.
Lee Kantor: Well, Pei, congratulations on all the success. You’re doing amazing things. And we really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story.
Pei Tung Wu: Thank you so much for having me.
Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Women in Motion.
