In 1982, Chiun-Mau Tong was a single father with three children about to start college. A friend had introduced him to a pork sung manufacturer looking for a distributor in Northern California, and Chiun Mau took it despite possessing only $200 and limited fluency in English and Cantonese. He sought to apply his own diligent work ethic and experience distributing electrical parts in Taiwan to this business and so launched Tong Enterprises in his garage.
The first years were difficult as Chiun Mau had to contend with a language barrier and stores’ initial reluctance towards an unproven product, but through persistence and the reputation he developed for hard work and excellent service, he won them over. As he gained more customers, he began carrying more wares, and this eventually led him to first renting public storage space in Richmond, CA, then hiring his first employee to deliver orders, and finally buying his first warehouse in Brisbane. Soon after, he began importing products from Taiwan.
The next big chapter was expansion to markets outside northern California, beginning with Chiun Mau moving to southern California to reach the markets there and in the rest of the United States. It soon became apparent a warehouse in southern California would be a necessary part of handling the orders that came pouring in, and so Gemini Food Corporation was launched in 1996 to support markets outside California. This was followed by Gemini Food Taiwan in 1998 to improve the flow of importation into the US, and Gemini Food becoming the first importer to also distribute directly across the US without a need for regional distributors.
Today, Gemini Food can serve markets across the United States, and has grown from supplying club stores, mainstream market chains, and export markets in Latin America. It has not forgotten its roots as a family business that treats its employees with dignity and respect, continues to value transparency and collaboration with manufacturers and customers, and is well-positioned to face the challenges and evolution necessary for grocery importation and distribution.
Interview with our Founder
Mr. Chiun Mau Tong
Interview with our Founder Mr. Chiun Mau Tong
Mr. Chiun Mau Tong | Founder
So how did you get started?
I was a single parent who had just come to America while trying to raise 3 children on my own, and I only had $200 available to start the business. Someone introduced me to a pork sung factory owner looking for someone to distribute his wares in Northern California. In Taiwan, I ran a very successful electrical parts distribution business. I thought that food distribution wouldn’t be that different from distributing electrical parts, and that it would succeed with hard work.
Why import food?
Because there are very limited numbers of Chinese food produced in the United States. I knew I would have to import food from Taiwan if I wanted to grow the business, and it helped that I knew a manufacturer.
Why not electrical appliances like in Taiwan?
Because in the US, those are already done by big national chains and there wouldn’t be any place for an independent electrical parts distributor. It’d be hard to get into, so I decided to switch industries with pork sung as my start.
What was it like starting out?
The most important thing was that I started with $200 of capital. So, I had to be very careful with cash flow. I got a 45-day term from the factory, I gave a 30-day term to the retailers, and thus was able to work from the $200 capital.
How did people respond to it when you told them that’s what you were doing? Did they try to make it harder?
Never, because our products are very good. There were only two products, both types of pork sung. I helped set them up on the shelves and merchandized them, so customers were quite happy.
Did you ever feel like it wouldn’t work out?
No, failure was not an option for me. I was running this business to put my children through college, so if it failed, they would have to drop out of college. Furthermore, people do need to eat, so I was confident the demand would always there and that I would succeed through hard work.
Mr. Chiun Mau Tong | Founder
Are you happy with how things turned out? Was it worth it?
I’m very satisfied, and furthermore, I am very proud that my oldest son was able to take over and continue this business
Major Milestone
1982
Taiwanese immigrant Chiun Mau Tong launches Tong Enterprises in his garage with $200, seeking to pay for his children’s college tuition.
Tong moves into its first office-warehouse in Brisbane, CA.
1986
1988
Continued growth prompts Tong to move operations to a larger warehouse in Hayward, CA.
Tong expands outside northern California, establishing an account in Seattle, WA.
1992
1993
Tong moves to its current location in Hayward, CA.
Gemini Food Corporation is established in City of Industry, CA to better serve customers in southern California and elsewhere in the US.
1996
1998
Gemini Food Taiwan is established to ease the flow of products between Taiwan and American markets.
Gemini Food moves to its current location.
1999
2010
Gemini Food begins exporting to South America, starting with Brazil.
Chiun Mau retires, his son George taking over as President and CEO of Tong and Gemini Food.
2012
2013
Gemini Food begins supplying to Costco locations in the United States and Canada.
Gemini Food becomes a licensed partner of Sanrio and begins distributing goods featuring Hello Kitty & Friends.
2023
2025
Tong Enterprises and Gemini Food Corporation merge under the Gemini Food name.
1982
Taiwanese immigrant Chiun Mau Tong launches Tong Enterprises in his garage with $200, seeking to pay for his children’s college tuition.
1986
Tong moves into its first office-warehouse in Brisbane, CA.
1988
- Continued growth prompts Tong to move operations to a larger warehouse in Hayward, CA.
1992
- Tong expands outside northern California, establishing an account in Seattle, WA.
1993
Tong moves to its current location in Hayward, CA.
1996
Gemini Food Corporation is established in City of Industry, CA to better serve customers in southern California and elsewhere in the US.
1998
Gemini Food Taiwan is established to ease the flow of products between Taiwan and American markets.
1999
Gemini Food moves to its current location.
2010
Gemini Food begins exporting to South America, starting with Brazil.
2012
Chiun Mau retires, his son George taking over as President and CEO of Tong and Gemini Food.
2013
Gemini Food begins supplying to Costco locations in the United States and Canada.
2023
Gemini Food becomes a licensed partner of Sanrio and begins distributing goods featuring Hello Kitty & Friends.
2025
Tong Enterprises and Gemini Food Corporation merge under the Gemini Food name.
Social Commitments
THE TONG FAMILY AND THE EMPLOYEES OF OUR COMPANIES OWE MUCH OF THEIR SUCCESS TO THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE DO BUSINESS.
HAYWARD OFFICE IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE RECENT INSTALLATION OF ROOFTOP SOLAR PANELS IN COLLABORATION WITH TESLA SOLAR.
As part of our commitment to more sustainable business practices, these panels will allow us to reduce our reliance on the state power grid and our overall carbon footprint.
GEMINI FOOD WAS RECOGNIZED BY SENATOR ARCHULETA IN 2024 FOR THESE AND OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO FIGHTING HUNGER IN CALIFORNIA.
Sponsoring the Select Reapers in the West Covina PONY Baseball youth sports league
Sponsoring the Sierra Vista High School Marching Dons in the Sierra Vista High School Field Tournament
More Recently
OUR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT EFFORTS HAVE INCLUDED:
Sponsoring the Select Reapers in the West Covina PONY Baseball youth sports league
Sponsoring the Sierra Vista High School Marching Dons in the Sierra Vista High School Field Tournament
Donations to Ecole d’Hotellerie et de Tourisme, giving young Cambodians training and qualifications to contribute towards sustainable tourism in Cambodia
Financial contributions to Hoa Sua School of Economics and Tourism, providing culinary and hospitality training to at-risk and disadvantaged Vietnamese youth
Donations to the Orange County Food Bank, which distributes nearly 20 million pounds of food annually
Contributions to the Philippine Red Cross Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts
During Hurricane Katrina we donated goods and food to our customer who was sheltering people in their community.
Low cost sourcing to supply rice and cooking oil to Care Mission USA's project of feeding local unhoused communities.
Donations of food to the Food Bank of Southern California, and through them to organizations such as Hearts of Compassion, the East Wind Youth Foundation, and City of Hope.
Donations of food to the Saint Vincent de Paul Society in Pasadena, serving families in the area dealing with food shortages.
Financial donations to Water1st, an NGO specializing in building water infrastructure across the world.
Our People
They extend to our employees and corporate culture as well. We value the knowledge, enthusiasm, and contributions our staff and sales representatives bring to our business. We hold our employees in the highest regard and continually work to foster a culture of respect and integrity. Our employees reflect the melting pot modern society has become. With expertise in global foods from many locales.
Gemini Food Corporation is dedicated to protecting our planet and its resources. We have implemented a modern Warehouse Management System that cuts down on paper used in our processes. Our warehouse has natural skylights to provide lighting and reduce electricity usage as well as a full array of solar panels. We will be installing solar panels in our Hayward warehouse and aim to be carbon neutral by 2040 or sooner as technology allows. We partner with our manufacturers to reduce packaging and fill containers completely avoiding wasted space and fuel. We encourage our partners to practice clean water treatments in their manufacturing to protect their local communities. We continue to evolve our procedures to modernize and improve our carbon footprint by using clean and renewable energy sources.
Interview with Jocelyn Liu
Accounting Supervisor
How has your role at Gemini changed in your time here?
I started in accounts receivable and focusing on core tasks. Over time I took over cost reports and improving processes, which helped me grow into a strategy and problem-solving role.
What are some highlights from your time at Gemini?
One of the most rewarding experiences has been contributing to impactful projects such as maintaining the Costco account and maintaining cost efficiency on the Acumatica project. For that, I collaborated with the Acumatica team as a project manager.
What do you enjoy about working here?
The people, because everyone has been very supportive and collaborative. That culture of support and collaboration pushed me to grow, to take on new challenges and keep improving. My supervisor has supported me and constantly shown trust in my abilities, such as when I was encouraged to lead project teams. That guidance and trust boosted my confidence and helped me develop my leadership and problem-solving skills.
