About Us

Hi there!

We're Luke and Christine, the father-daughter duo on the logo.

Xinying, Tainan, Taiwan

新營, 臺南 台灣

Our roots begin in the 1950s in Xinying, Tainan, Taiwan where Luke was a young boy and his father made and sold sausages from his bike everyday. As a child, Luke grew up with 7 siblings and helped gather ingredients for his parents. He studied machinery in high school while dreaming of coming to America, watching American television to learn English. Luke and his wife immigrated to California in the late 1980s and started a family. He immediately started working, and within 5 years he owned his first business-a fast casual burger restaurant in the mall.

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Humble Beginnings

Fast forward to 2002 to a life of immigrant resilience and restaurant businesses fueled by the American dream, Luke decided to make Taiwanese sausages to support his young family. It started in a home garage converted to a kitchen. Products were given to friends and family. At that time, Asian (especially Taiwanese) food was difficult to find and Taiwanese immigrants were longing for a taste of home. Like a true immigrant family, Christine (a young child) helped her parents with small tasks. Soon enough, she could handle knives and machinery. Word-of-mouth continued spreading to all parts of the USA through online forums and blogs. Soon this operation would outgrow the small garage kitchen where the father-daughter bond and fond memories were formed-years of Luke telling Christine countless stories of his childhood, his experiences in life so far, and his hopes and dreams for the future.

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After operating out of the family restaurant for many years Luke decided "Hey! We needed a factory." The deep presence of food in Christine's life lead her to pursue a path in nutrition in college, working various catering jobs, owning a restaurant, and finally taking over Luke's legacy in 2024, when Luke retired. Hoja Foods may be in our second generation with new ideas and innovations, but the roots of family, community, and preservation are deep.

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