The Hei Hei Way

Handmade in Athens, Ohio | Est. 2023

At Hei Hei, we make Korean Appalachian food with heirloom vegetables, heritage-breed meats, and time-honored fermentation techniques. Our food is a reflection of Appalachia, the place we call home, and the Korean heritage of our founder Irene Kim Chin. 

In 2024, we proudly sourced ingredients from over 18 farmers in the Appalachian Ohio region. These small-scale, family-owned operations are pioneering the future of sustainable agriculture by honoring tradition while embracing cutting-edge regenerative practices like silvopasture, agroforestry, seed saving, no-till farming, and biodiverse crop rotations. 

We are committed to working with these farms because they produce the best ingredients possible, food that is more flavorful, more nutritious, better for the environment, better for the farmer—and because we’re committed to investing in our regional economy.

Hei Hei is a proud member of The Appalachian Center for Economic Networks. We produce our products at the ACEnet commercial kitchen in Athens, Ohio.

If you're ever in the area please let us know (email or call anytime). We'd love to show you around as there is always something cool going on at ACEnet! 

Ok, time to get back to making dumplings! 

Peace and love,

Kurt Vincent, co-founder of Hei Hei 
tel. (740) 300-0350