How a ship’s cook launched a startup making traditional Asian foods

A person stands at a table with jarred food.

Photo / Courtesy Red Kettle Foods LLC Ger Liang Tysk, the founder of Red Kettle, has been growing her fermented foods business in Belfast.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Ger Liang Tysk runs Belfast-based Red Kettle Foods LLC, a small-batch maker of traditional Korean kimchi, Japanese pickles and other Asian ferments under the name Red Kettle Kimchi, using Maine ingredients such as daikon, cucumbers, carrots, onions and ginger.

She began making kimchi during her previous, decade-long career as a chef on sailing ships in Europe, the Caribbean and the East Coast.

Tysk was selected for this year's Top Gun Bangor cohort, run by the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs.

Mainebiz asked her about the company’s evolution. Here’s an edited transcript.

Mainebiz: Tell us about your background as a ship’s chef.

Ger Liang Tysk: I was born in Illinois and grew up in Texas. After college I went into the Air Force, came home, was living in Texas and fell into cooking.

I read Moby Dick and started researching this fascinating whaling history and culture, which led me to a job in Massachusetts and to writing a book about the history of whaling. I became an artist-in-residence at the Mystic Seaport Museum, which was restoring the Charles W. Morgan [an 1841 whaleship]. In 2012, the sailors invited me to go on a transatlantic trip, working on deck.

I was seasick the whole time. And at the end of the voyage I wanted to do it again. But I hated working on deck. So I became the cook. In the Caribbean, it was hard to get groceries. I had been making kimchi many years at home. So I started making it on the ship and it was popular because it goes with everything.

MB: How did that lead to Maine?

GLT: I met my partner who owns a house in Appleton. A lot of my friends already lived in Maine because of the tall ships and schooners here.

MB: What kicked off the business?

GLT: I was entering my 40s. Cooking on the ship started to take a toll on my body. I thought maybe it was time to do something else. I saw all these food businesses being born in Maine. I thought I could start in my kitchen, no money down. But for fermented food, you have to be in a fully licensed commercial kitchen. The state walked me through all the steps. For example, I needed to get every recipe tested in an FDA-approved lab.

Photo / Courtesy Red Kettle Foods LLC

Miya Lohmeier, a Red Kettle employee, prepares kimchi.

MB: Where did you find space?

GLT: First it was a 200-square-foot kitchen in Rockland. I said, “I’ll make a little bit to sell to family and friends.” In the summer of 2022, I got my LLC and started selling in January 2023. Before I knew it, I was ordered out the door. In May 2023, I moved to the Crosby Center in Belfast, at 96 Church St. They have a fully licensed commercial kitchen and I was able to expand.

MB: What are your growth trends?

GLT: The first year I did a little online, but packing and shipping were difficult. So I pitched to buyers, gave out samples and got into a couple of local general stores and Rising Tide Coop in Damariscotta. Then demand skyrocketed. I doubled my revenue in 2024 and I’m track to double it again.

We’re doing production three days a week. I have two employees who help make the kimchi and one or two days a week another two employees help pack it. We’re cranking out 20 to 30 cases per week; it’s sold before it gets made. One case is twelve 16-ounce glass jars. I started to offer a quart size for farmers markets. Our jars come from Quality Containers in Yarmouth. My background includes graphic design, so I do my own labels, website, business cards, flyers, banners.

Photo / Courtesy Red Kettle Foods LLC

Red Kettle cranks out 20 to 30 cases per week.

MB: What does distribution look like?

GLT: A lot of our kimchi is for wholesale. I started selling at farmers markets in 2024 in Rockland and Belfast, although I don’t see farmers markets being a huge part of my business model. Through Native Maine Produce [a Westbrook wholesale food distributor], I’m in 50 to 60 stores, coops and restaurants from Calais to Lexington, Mass. For retail accounts, I self-distribute. My husband is my delivery driver.

MB: How are you financed?

GLT: My own funds and sales proceeds.

MB: You’ve mentioned a community piece. What does that look like?

GLT: I’m dedicated to supporting Maine agriculture. I want to make sure our neighbors know they can get Asian food at their budget level. I do a lot of work with local food pantries and we do cooking classes with local nonprofits. The next phase is to open an Asian-focused retail store and community space for more cooking classes, pop-ups and events.

MB: What do you hope to get from Top Gun?

GLT: I wanted the connections to the mentor I now have, who’s amazing and has helped me look at my numbers and do the financial projections. There’s so much access to knowledge. I can ask a question and someone will have an answer — IP, trademark, marketing. It’s been a really good investment into the second phase of my business, where I’m just past the start-up phase and want to explore where to go. Do I want a co-packer? What kind of facility do I want? What kind of marketing and trade spend? I’m doing my first trade show this year. Before this I was just trying to keep my head above water and make money.