La Choy (stylized La Choy 東) is a brand name of canned and prepackaged American Chinese food ingredients. The brand was purchased in 1990 from Beatrice Foods by ConAgra Foods during the LBO firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' dismantling of the company and is still currently a property of ConAgra.
Early history
The company was founded in 1922 by Dr. Ilhan New, later founder of Yuhan Corporation in South Korea, and Wallace J. "Wally" Smith from the University of Michigan. The first product, canned mung bean sprouts, was originally sold in Smith's Detroit, Michigan, grocery store.[1]
New left the company for personal reasons in 1930, and Smith was killed by lightning in 1937.[2]