The ingredient.
Careful soybean selection and clean preparation set the tone for everything that follows.
Our story
A family recipe.
A lifelong
standard.
LaoZhou began with one modest ambition: make tofu that tasted real enough to serve to family and solid enough to share with everyone.
Since 1986.
The beginning
Not a brand first.
A craft first.
In 1986, Zhou Daoyin left Anhui with a family tofu recipe and began making tofu in Yancheng, Jiangsu. There was no grand plan or polished brand — just a belief that flavor had to be true and the work had to be honest.
Those early tofu cakes took cues from Hui-style pressed tofu: deep seasoning, aromatic braise and a firm, chewy structure. He also brought in the softer texture of Jiangsu-style tofu and the richer, more layered flavors of the region.
What emerged was a paper-wrapped tofu with a balanced soy and spice character, a satisfying bite and the kind of flavor people remembered. Demand grew quietly, then steadily.
“味道要真，做人要实。”Real flavor. Honest work.
From workshop to factory
The scale grew.
The promise stayed.
Over four decades, the small workshop became a modern food company. More people could buy LaoZhou, but the standard remained personal: clean ingredients, careful process and a flavor the founders would be happy to serve at their own table.
In 2024, the brand entered a new chapter with a modern intelligent production base in Xinghua, Jiangsu — combining traditional know-how with digital process control and automated production.
Explore our modern craftMilestones
Four decades in the making.
A story of incremental progress, built on one enduring craft.
- 1986The Zhou family begins making tofu in Yancheng, Jiangsu.
- 1992Xinhua Food Factory begins larger-scale production.
- 1995The LaoZhou trademark is registered.
- 1997Yancheng LaoZhou Food Co. formalizes a modern company.
- 2009A large-scale Jiangsu tofu production base is established.
- 2024LaoZhou Food (Jiangsu) enters a new intelligent production facility.
What we protect
Three things we
refuse to rush.
The process.
Old recipes can be updated with better tools, but depth of flavor still takes time and attention.
The people.
A product should be made as if it is going to the people you care about most.
A new chapter
Learning new tools.
Keeping an old
point of view.
The new LaoZhou production base brings greater automation and digital visibility to a traditional craft. That means more consistency behind the scenes, while the food itself stays rooted in texture, soy and a slow, savory braise.
Taste the next chapter
A Chinese tofu snack
made to travel.
Explore the range or speak with our team about the right product format for your market.