Fly By Jing

Fly By Jing is an American food brand centered on chili crisp and other Sichuan-influenced condiments. It was created by Jing Gao, an entrepreneur whose earlier professional experience included work as a brand manager at Procter & Gamble. Gao became increasingly interested in food and culinary culture after returning to China to work in technology. She subsequently changed career direction, opened a restaurant in Shanghai, and later moved to California, where she developed Fly By Jing as a direct-to-consumer business. The brand's initial proposition was to make a distinctive Sichuan-style chili condiment available to a broader audience while presenting it as a modern, design-conscious consumer product. Its core product is chili crisp, a textured spicy condiment commonly used as a topping or ingredient. Fly By Jing's positioning combines regional culinary inspiration with contemporary branding and an emphasis on versatile everyday use. Its products can be used with noodles, rice, vegetables, dumplings, meats, and other foods, allowing the brand to occupy both the specialty-food and pantry-staples categories. Gao launched a Kickstarter campaign for Fly By Jing in 2018. This campaign established the brand's early direct-to-consumer model and helped introduce it to customers interested in specialty condiments and Chinese-inspired flavors. The company received additional attention in 2020 when a New York Times feature about chili crisp mentioned Gao and Fly By Jing. According to the available reference material, the article coincided with increased interest in home cooking during the COVID-19 pandemic and produced a substantial increase in sales. Fly By Jing later expanded beyond its original chili-crisp focus through collaborations and new formats. In 2024, it partnered with Mixt Greens on a salad featuring Original Sichuan Chili Crisp, demonstrating an effort to show the condiment in a prepared-food setting. In 2025, the company shifted away from a primarily direct-to-consumer approach and placed greater emphasis on retail distribution. That year it collaborated with Frankie Gaw on a chili-crisp ketchup and introduced a packaged dried noodle product with soy sauce, initially sold at Costco. For the 2025 Christmas season, the brand also offered a chili-crisp advent calendar. The brand's identity remains closely associated with Jing Gao and with the popularization of chili crisp in the United States. Its public profile has also included discussion of unconventional uses for the condiment. Gao described putting chili crisp on ice cream as an example of “dark cuisine,” a term used on the Chinese internet for unusual food combinations. No separate parent company, public listing, ticker, or corporate ownership structure is identified in the supplied reference material.

Fly By Jing was established by Jing Gao, an American entrepreneur whose background included brand-management work at Procter & Gamble. Gao developed an interest in culinary work after returning to China for a technology-related role. Her career then moved from technology toward food: she opened a restaurant in Shanghai before relocating to California and creating Fly By Jing as a direct-to-consumer condiment business. The brand's early identity was built around chili crisp and Sichuan culinary influence. Rather than presenting the product solely as a traditional regional ingredient, Fly By Jing framed it as a contemporary pantry item with broad applications. The condiment could function as a topping, seasoning, or cooking ingredient, helping the brand appeal to consumers experimenting with spicy flavors and home cooking. A Kickstarter campaign in 2018 marked the brand's public launch and supported its initial direct-to-consumer development. This model allowed Fly By Jing to introduce its products directly to customers and build awareness around its founder-led story and Sichuan-inspired flavor profile. A major increase in public attention followed a 2020 New York Times feature about chili crisp that included Gao and Fly By Jing. The timing coincided with heightened home-cooking activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the available reference material reports that sales increased after the article appeared. Fly By Jing subsequently broadened its presence through partnerships and product extensions. In 2024, a collaboration with Mixt Greens placed Original Sichuan Chili Crisp in a salad, illustrating how the condiment could be incorporated into a prepared-food offering rather than used only as a packaged pantry product. In 2025, the company changed its commercial emphasis, moving away from a predominantly direct-to-consumer model and focusing more heavily on retail. The same year brought several extensions of the brand: a chili-crisp ketchup created with Frankie Gaw, a packaged dried noodle product accompanied by soy sauce and initially sold at Costco, and a seasonal chili-crisp advent calendar offered for Christmas. Fly By Jing's public identity continues to be closely connected to Jing Gao and to the wider U.S. interest in chili crisp. Gao has also discussed unconventional applications of the condiment, including serving it on ice cream. She referred to that combination as “dark cuisine,” a Chinese internet expression for unusual or bizarre food pairings. The available sources do not establish a separate parent company, public-company listing, ticker, or detailed corporate ownership structure.

• 2025

  Retail-focused business transition

  [1]Fly By Jingen.wikipedia.org

  The company shifted away from a primarily direct-to-consumer model and placed greater emphasis on retail distribution.

• 2025

  Expansion into ketchup, noodles, and seasonal products

  [1]Fly By Jingen.wikipedia.org

  Fly By Jing introduced chili-crisp ketchup with Frankie Gaw, a dried noodle product with soy sauce initially sold at Costco, and a Christmas chili-crisp advent calendar.

• 2024

  Mixt Greens collaboration

  [1]Fly By Jingen.wikipedia.org

  Fly By Jing partnered with Mixt Greens on a salad featuring Original Sichuan Chili Crisp.

• 2020

  New York Times feature increases visibility

  [1]Fly By Jingen.wikipedia.org

  A New York Times article about chili crisp mentioned Fly By Jing and was followed by increased sales during a period of heightened home cooking.

• 2018

  Kickstarter launch

  [1]Fly By Jingen.wikipedia.org

  Jing Gao opened a Kickstarter campaign for Fly By Jing, establishing the brand's early direct-to-consumer business.

A contemporary specialty-food brand translating Sichuan-inspired chili condiments into accessible pantry products and retail formats.

• Chili crisp

  Original Sichuan Chili Crisp

  Fly By Jing's core condiment and the product most closely associated with the brand. It is a Sichuan-style chili crisp intended to be used as a topping, seasoning, or cooking ingredient. The product has been presented in applications ranging from everyday home cooking to a collaborative salad with Mixt Greens.

• Condiment · 2025

  Chili-crisp ketchup

  A ketchup product developed by Fly By Jing in collaboration with Frankie Gaw. It extends the brand's chili-crisp flavor identity into a familiar Western condiment format.

• Packaged food · 2025

  Packaged dried noodle with soy sauce

  A packaged dried noodle product accompanied by soy sauce. It represented an expansion from standalone condiments into a more complete pantry meal format and was initially made available at Costco.

• Seasonal food product · 2025

  Chili-crisp advent calendar

  A Christmas-season advent calendar built around Fly By Jing's chili-crisp product identity. It served as a limited seasonal offering and extended the brand into gift-oriented packaging.

• 2025Frankie Gaw chili-crisp ketchup collaboration

  United States

  Fly By Jing collaborated with Frankie Gaw to develop a chili-crisp ketchup.

  Outcome. The collaboration expanded the brand's flavor profile into a ketchup format.

  Source
• 2024Mixt Greens salad collaboration

  United States

  Fly By Jing partnered with Mixt Greens to create a salad using Original Sichuan Chili Crisp.

  Outcome. The collaboration demonstrated the condiment's use in a prepared-food and restaurant-style setting.

  Source
• 2018Kickstarter launch

  United States

  Fly By Jing used Kickstarter to introduce the brand and support its initial direct-to-consumer launch.

  Outcome. The campaign established the brand's early customer-facing business model.

  Source

• 2025

  Increase emphasis on retailStrategy

  Background

  Fly By Jing had initially operated primarily as a direct-to-consumer business.

  Action taken

  The company transitioned away from the direct-to-consumer model and adopted a stronger retail focus.

  Aftermath

  The shift accompanied expansion into retail-oriented products, including a packaged noodle product initially sold at Costco.

  Source

• 2025

  Expand into noodles and seasonal formatsProduct launch

  Background

  The brand sought to extend its chili-crisp identity beyond a single condiment format.

  Action taken

  Fly By Jing launched a dried noodle product with soy sauce, initially through Costco, and offered a chili-crisp advent calendar for Christmas.

  Aftermath

  These launches broadened the brand's presence into packaged meals and seasonal gifting.

  Source

• 2018

  Launch the brand through KickstarterProduct launch

  Background

  After Jing Gao's transition from technology and restaurant work into packaged food, Fly By Jing needed an initial route to market.

  Action taken

  The company opened a Kickstarter campaign and developed Fly By Jing as a direct-to-consumer condiment business.

  Aftermath

  The campaign established the brand's early market presence and founder-led commercial model.

  Source

1. 1Fly By Jingen.wikipedia.org