Fred & Gertrude Yee, beginnings of Li Hing Mui & Yick Lung "Cracked Seed"
Fred & Gertrude Yee, Li Hing Mui & the Story of Yick Lung “Cracked Seed”
This is a family story, told from memories, conversations and a lot of talk-story around the table. Yick Lung isn’t just a brand on a jar – it’s four generations of Hawaii life, hard work, and plenty of salty-sweet snacks shared with friends.
Roots in a New Home — 1898 to the 1940s
It began with my great-grandparents, Yee Sheong and Kam Tai Leong, who arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1898 looking for a fresh start. In 1900 they opened a small shop on Vineyard Street under the name YICK LUNG, which in Cantonese means “profitable enterprise.” The first goods they imported were preserved plums from China – simple Li Hing Mui that reminded people of home.
They raised eleven children, and as the years went by the little shop became part of Honolulu’s daily rhythm. In 1944, when my great-grandfather passed, three of the sons – Fred, Peter and Jimmy – stepped in to carry Yick Lung forward.
Growing with Hawaiʻi — 1940s to 1970s
Under the brothers, Yick Lung grew from a small candy importer into an island-wide distributor with its own fleet of trucks. The company eventually moved to 580 Dillingham Boulevard, building offices, warehouses, and turning into a full-scale snack manufacturer – shrimp chips, Nibb-its, Taco Toobs, potato chips, teakwood, jewelry and more.
During the 1960s and 70s, the yellow Yick Lung logo became a familiar sight in mom-and-pop stores, crack seed shops, and school lunch lines all over the islands. Kids grew up with our jars on the counter and bags in the pantry – it was simply “part of Hawaii.”
Gertrude & the Birth of Li Hing Mui
My grandmother, Gertrude Yee – Fred’s wife – was the one who helped turn Li Hing into a true local favorite. She worked with sun-dried, salty-sweet plums and began blending sauces and seasonings to find just the right balance of sweet, sour, and salty that Hawaiʻi people love. From that kitchen experimenting came Li Hing Mui as most of us remember it – together with shredded mango, cracked seed, rock salt plum, baby seed, cherry seed, shredded ginger and other flavors that filled the old glass jars.
On TV, Radio & the Sunday Manoa Cover
By the 1970s, my brother and I were part of the fun. We were placed into Yick Lung marketing campaigns with TV commercials and promotions on “Checkers & Pogo”, the local children’s show so many in Hawaiʻi remember. Around the same time, the legendary Sunday Manoa album came out with the classic Yick Lung crack seed jar on its cover – Hawaiian music by Peter Moon, the Cazimero Brothers and more, spinning while families snacked on our Li Hing.
Over the years we worked with local celebrities and entertainers – Carole Kai, Melveen Leed, Frank De Lima – and even filmed a lighthearted scene in our Dillingham warehouse for Hawaiian Moving Company. There were skits with shrimp chips and Nibb-its spilling everywhere, booths at the 50th State Fair, and 98 Rock surfboard promos. For us as teens in the family business, it was pure fun.
Listening Back: The Hawaii’s Choice Podcast
Today, some of those stories and music live on through our Hawaii’s Choice Podcast, where we revisit the sounds and flavors that shaped the brand.
The Li Hing Craze & POG Days — 1980s to 1990s
In the late 1980s and 90s, Hawaiʻi fell in love with Li Hing all over again. POG caps were trading hands at recess, and bars across the islands soaked tequila with Li Hing plums in big glass jars. Margaritas came rimmed with red Li Hing powder instead of salt – a sweet, tangy flavor that locals still crave today.
At the old factory on Dillingham, I kept experimenting. One day, while tinkering with sauces, we created Valiente’s Li Hing Sauce, which made its way into stores and bars through Paradise Beverages. Even the Valiente cartoon character on the bottle has a Hawaiʻi story – he was drawn by a street artist on Kalākaua Avenue one Saturday night.
Where Does the Business Go From Here?
Every family brand reaches a crossroads. For us, that question sat quietly in the background for years: What happens next to Yick Lung?
Fast Forward to Today — Continuing the Yick Lung Legacy
Fast forward to today. To honor the work of the generations before us, we’re bringing back the YICK LUNG name and the quality that local families remember. We call this chapter Hawaii’s Choice – a way of carrying forward the same heart, updated for a new generation of snack lovers.
We’re starting with the “next gen” of Li Hing candies – our Li Hing Plum and Li Hing Mango Tablet Candies – with more local surprises to come. We continue to team up with long-time local distributors like A.C. Lyau Company (established in 1920 and incorporated in 1955), Whitby Co. and K&K Distributors, who place our items in stores across the islands: 7-Eleven Hawaiʻi, Longs, Don Quijote, Times Supermarkets, Foodland, Aloha Petroleum and more.
The Next Generation of Li Hing Candy
Today’s Li Hing tablet candies are designed for the next wave of Hawaii kids – and for anyone on the mainland who wants a taste of what we grew up with. Same salty-sweet spirit, now in a format that’s easy to share, ship, and slip into a backpack.
Next Gen of Li Hing candy
From a small shop on Vineyard Street to jars in crack seed stores, POG caps, Li Hing margaritas and now Li Hing tablet candies – Yick Lung has always been about one thing: sharing flavor and aloha across generations. Mahalo for being part of the story.