In 1976, Mr. Rhee, along with his three brothers, formally started Rhee Bros in suburban Maryland to serve the growing Korean immigrant population there. At the time, Korea was still a developing country and one of the poorest countries in the world. Since Korean food manufacturing and branding was still in its infancy, Mr. Rhee began with products from Japan, a more developed country.
While traveling throughout Japan, Mr. Rhee's understanding of the food business expanded, particularly the importance of branding products. Branding techniques served as a great inspiration to Mr. Rhee, who later applied this knowledge in Korea with Rhee Bros' flagship Assi brand. With the expansion of signature brands and successful partnerships, Rhee Bros' distribution network grew to cover the entire US and over 30 countries internationally.In 1989, Rhee Bros began a retail affiliate relationship to sell Rhee Bros' products at Lotte Plaza, an Asian supermarket chain in the Washington/Baltimore metropolitan area. A retail relationship with Assi Plaza, which has stores across the country, followed. Today, both chains have a combined eleven stores throughout the US that proudly carry Rhee Bros' products to over a million customers every year.
