One late afternoon in February 2009, Thao was pottering around
her sunny house in Sydney inner west area when she got a call from
Karen. "I know what our business will be! Let's make
healthy Pho noodles using your grandparents' recipe", Karen
said. It was then middle of the night for Karen in San
Francisco.
That's how the Star Anise Foods adventure started. Two
friends with an idea.
We had met 4 years earlier while hiking in Hong Kong, and soon
after had started talking about starting a business. The
years of pursuing other interests on opposite sides of the planet
had not killed that dream.
The idea was perfect for us! We love making and sharing food
with others. We love Asian noodles, especially Pho noodles.
We hadn't found that 'special', tasty healthy noodle that we
craved. So, why not create one ourselves and share it with
the world?
In June 2009, we landed in Saigon, Vietnam to further define our
company's vision and to develop our product line. We rented 2
connecting rooms on a 3rd floor of a home in District 3 in the
heart of Saigon. We lived, breathed and talked Vietnamese pho
noodles and spices from the moment we woke up until the wee
hours. We got a lot of opposition: .No you can't do it!,
Absolutely not, are you nuts?, No it's not possible. Karen
called it the "No, no, no" song. But we persisted, we kept asking
questions, we kept hassling people, we kept finding new ways to
fulfill our vision. And finally we got what we wanted - an
all-natural, flavorful Pho noodles soup that we absolutely love and
that anyone can make.
We're so proud of the delicious healthy noodles we've created.
We're both seriously addicted to the stuff! We love that
everyone else who has tasted our noodles love them, from Karen's
neighbor in San Francisco who had never even heard of Pho to Thao's
family who have been passing down the secrets of making pho for
three generations.
And now we are excited to share our pho noodles with
you! Please look for Star Anise Foods' products, Happy
Pho and Vietnamese Brown Rice Noodles, in your local stores.
We would love to hear what you think about our pho noodles.
Please drop us a line
here.