RHEEBROS.com

our history

It started when our founder, Syng Man (Steve) Rhee, immigrated to Washington DC from Korea in 1968. Mr. Rhee originally came to study political science for a few years and then return to Korea to pursue his political ambitions. After holding multiple jobs to support his family, he contacted his mother in Korea to ask for financial assistance.

To his surprise, instead of money, he received a shipment of dried squid with a note to sell the squid to make money. After the initial shock wore off, he began selling the squid, which sold out immediately. Needless to say, he contacted his mother asking for more squid, which led to the beginnings of Rhee Bros.
In 1976, Mr. Rhee started Rhee Bros in suburban Maryland along with his three brothers to service the growing Korean immigrant population. At that time, Korea was still recovering from the Korean War and was one of the poorest countries in the world. Food manufacturing and branding was in its infancy so Mr. Rhee began with products from Japan, a more developed country. While traveling throughout Japan, Mr. Rhee's understanding of the food business grew, in particular the importance of branding products. He later applied that knowledge in Korea when he developed the "Assi" brand which later became Rhee Bros' flagship brand. Over the years, Rhee Bros' distribution network grew to cover the entire US and over 20 countries internationally.
In 1989, Rhee Bros began a retail affiliate relationship with Lotte Plaza, an Asian supermarket chain in the Washington/Baltimore metropolitan area, to sell Rhee Bros' products. This later led to another relationship with Assi Plaza. Today, both chains havea combined eleven stores throughout the US that proudly carry Rhee Bros' products to over a million customers every year.