Stay up to date on upcoming events, deadlines, news, and more by signing up for our newsletters!
The Founder: Ashley Xie (Steinhardt '20)
The Startup: Rooted Fare
Participated In: Startup Accelerator Program, Female Founders Fellowship, Startup Coaching
Ashley Xie, co-founder of Rooted Fare, has seamlessly blended her Chinese heritage with American culture to create innovative culinary experiences. Raised in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California, Ashley and her childhood friend, Hedy Yu, both daughters of Chinese immigrants, often found themselves navigating between their family's traditions and the broader American society.
Ashley's passion for food was evident from a young age. As a child, she fondly watched her mother prepare traditional Chinese dishes at the family restaurant and found herself captivated by culinary shows like Iron Chef America. Still, after high school she decided to pursue a degree in Public Health and Biology from Johns Hopkins University at her mom’s encouragement.
Despite initial reservations about following an unpredictable culinary career, Ashley's lifelong love of food still ran deep. After Johns Hopkins, she enrolled at NYU Steinhardt to earn a master's in Food Studies. She initially planned to focus on food policy, and even interned at the New York Department of Health to work on their healthy food initiative, but her path changed after taking an elective food business class. It was here that the initial idea for Rooted Fare bloomed.
The company's inception in 2020 was deeply personal and based on a family tradition of making tang yuan, glutinous rice balls filled with sweet black sesame paste. Inspired by these memories, Ashley experimented with transforming the black sesame filling into a spread. This culinary innovation led to the creation of Rooted Fare's flagship product, the Black Sesame Crunchy Butter — a delightful blend of nostalgia and novelty. In the years since, the company's product line has expanded to include additional delicious flavors like the Pineapple Cake Cashew Butter and Chinese Almond Cookie Butter. Its most recent spread is a limited edition Seaweed Sesame Cashew Butter.
Rooted Fare’s mission to craft modern Chinese-American pantry staples has only gained traction since its launch. The company’s products have been highlighted by media outlets such as Bon Appétit, ABC News, W Magazine, Thrillist, and BuzzFeed. Recently, both Ashley and Hedy were honored in the 2025 Forbes "30 Under 30" list in the Food & Drink category, highlighting their contributions to the culinary world.
Through Rooted Fare, Ashley Xie continues to honor her roots while introducing the rich flavors of her heritage to a broader audience, bridging cultural gaps one spread at a time.
