Tim Zheng
Founder and CEO Women in Data
Young Professionals 2022
EDUCATION by Jennifer Fergesen
Like most people , Tim Zheng ate a lot of instant ramen in college . He had a moment of reckoning when he looked at the back of the packet and realized he was living on little more than flour , oil and vague meat aromas — a familiar feeling for fans of Top Ramen and Maruchan . Most people respond to that feeling by eating a salad now and then . Tim and his twin brother Tom Zheng , then still students , responded by creating their own healthy instant ramen company .
“ We started thinking , what if we can make an instant ramen that respects history , tastes delicious , is just as easy to prepare and delivers all of your nutrition ?” says Tim , 29 , the CEO and co-founder of Vite Ramen . He majored in managerial economics at UC Davis while his brother studied clinical nutrition . Tom Zheng has stepped away from the company due to health issues , but he was instrumental in making Vite Ramen as nutritionally complete as possible . One packet of Vite Ramen contains between 26 and 31 grams of protein and at least 25 percent of the suggested daily value of most essential vitamins , from vitamin A to zinc . Tim , who cooked at high-end restaurants before college , patterned the flavors after classic Japanese ramen styles like miso , tonkotsu ( creamy pork broth ) and shoyu ( soy sauce ).
After perfecting their recipe in 2018 , the brothers took to the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to launch it into reality . They reached their goal in under an hour , one of the fastest-funded campaigns in the food category in Kickstarter history . The $ 249,000 pledged by over 4,000 backers was enough to get Vite Ramen a manufacturing facility in Vacaville and custom-built machines for every stage of the noodlemaking process . It would have been cheaper to outsource the manufacturing to China , where the Zhengs have family connections , but “ we refuse to do that ,” Tim says .
“ Why make healthy noodles if we ’ re making them and selling them as cheap as possible , and trying to get as much profit as possible by abusing other people ?” he says . “ We wanted this to be made in the USA for that reason , and we pay ethical wages .” He adds that all Vite Ramen employees have the contractual right to “ mental health days ” and that everyone in the company , including the CEO , takes turns on the manufacturing line .
The company ’ s biggest challenges came with the pandemic , which drove up demand for Vite Ramen ’ s mail-order noodles but stymied the supply chains involved in making it . Then there were the 2020 wildfires , one reaching less than a mile from the Vacaville manufacturing facility . “ We were not able to take advantage of that demand ,” Tim admits . “ We actually suffered a lot for it , because there was a three-month period where we had to openly be like , ‘ Hey , guys , we can only ship out orders every so often right now , because we just don ’ t know when supplies are coming .’” In 2022 , supply chains are beginning to limp back to health , and so is the Vite Ramen supply . The company has expanded its offerings by introducing non-Japanese flavors like vegan Sichuan chili , a collaboration with the cult-favorite chili sauce brand Fly By Jing , and a nutritional supplement called Nanoboost that Tim says can help neurodivergent people maintain a healthy diet .
“ We should all be as good to our bodies , as good to our minds as possible , within the constraints that we have ,” he says . “ That ’ s definitely what we want to deliver .”
July 2022 | comstocksmag . com 55