Good Chow NZ
For Good Chow recipe mastermind Jenny Yang, food has always been about care - but also, at times, about pressure. Growing up, she watched her mother express love through cooking. Three meals a day, every day, prepared with precision and pride. It was an act of service that held the family together, but it also came at a cost. Long hours in the kitchen, constant planning, and a quiet exhaustion that often made mealtimes feel tense rather than joyful.
“I didn’t understand it when I was younger,” Jenny reflects. “But when I had my own family, I felt it. That constant mental load - what’s for breakfast, what’s for lunch, what’s for dinner. It never stops.”
That realisation became the seed of Good Chow NZ condiment legacy - a Hawke’s Bay-born, now Auckland-based brand built on one simple idea: good food shouldn’t feel like a burden. It should bring the family together and bring ease to an honest day’s work.
Jenny’s path into food wasn’t linear. Born in Taiwan, raised in Fiji, and later working in New Zealand exporting premium seafood to Asia, she saw firsthand how high-quality local ingredients were often reduced to commodities in global markets.
“We knew how special these products were,” she says. “But overseas, they were just another item. I felt like there had to be a better way to honour them.”
The answer was value-adding; transforming premium New Zealand ingredients into something accessible, shelf-stable, and deeply flavourful. From the beginning brainstorming ideas with her mother by her side, Jenny set a clear standard: every product had to be something she would feel comfortable serving her own children and parents daily. No preservatives, no unnecessary additives - just careful technique and time-honoured methods like dehydration.
But Good Chow is not just Jenny’s story. It is a novel co-written with her husband Franky - also known as ‘Mr Soy’ on New Zealand’s shores.
For four generations, his family were soy brewers in China, producing soy sauce long before industrialisation reshaped the industry. That legacy was lost when the business was nationalised, but the knowledge lived on - passed down through family stories and memory.
“Bringing soy brewing to New Zealand felt like reclaiming something,” Jenny explains. “Like contributing a piece of our family history to this country we now call home.”
That vision has since taken root. Good Chow’s soy-based range now reflects both heritage and innovation, home-grown in Hawke’s Bay and fermented in Auckland. From their award-winning sauces to their signature Wagyu products, all have been designed to make everyday cooking easier, without compromising on quality.
In 2025, that work was recognised at the Outstanding New Zealand Food Producer Awards, where Good Chow received Gold status for their NZ First Brew Soy Dipping Sauce, Gold for their Gluten Free Everything Sauce, and Bronze for their NZ Wagyu Sauce - a milestone that speaks to both craftsmanship and consistency. Good Chow cemented their wins in 2026 with three more Gold Medals for; Good Chow NZ, Pork Lard Chilli Paste, Good Chow NZ, NZ Truffle Soy Sauce and Good Chow NZ, Gluten Free NZ Blackfoot Paua XO Sauce.
“Wow! The umami and balance! Texture is great and aroma superb”
Still, for Jenny, the most meaningful feedback doesn’t come from judges.
It comes from families.
“The best thing is when someone tells me their kids are cooking with our products,” she says. “That it made things easier, or even enjoyable again. That’s everything to me.”
Because at its core, Good Chow isn’t just about flavour - it’s about reclaiming time, reducing stress, and bringing people back to the table.
“I wanted to create something that takes the pressure off,” Jenny says. “So cooking can go back to being what it’s meant to be - something that brings people together, not something that wears you down.”
For more of the Good Chow NZ story, recipes and stockists visit the website.
Franky and Jenny Yang at a Market selling OFPA medal winner Good Chow NZ
Soybean Plants in NZ used in OFPA medal winning Good Chow NZ.