Fly By Jing didn’t compete on price—it reframed the entire category. By charging a 300% premium over traditional chili crisps, the brand transformed what was once a $4 commodity into a $12–15 luxury staple and scaled to over $30M in annual revenue within six years.

Founder Jing Gao’s playbook combined cultural authenticity, Kickstarter-backed validation, and a market creation mindset. Starting with a single hero product, she built a premium Sichuan flavor ecosystem and sequenced growth across DTC, Amazon, and retail—from Whole Foods to Walmart—while gradually adjusting pricing as distribution scaled.

Here’s what made Fly By Jing’s approach a standout in modern CPG scaling:

• Positioned in the white space of “premium Asian pantry” instead of competing in crowded hot sauce aisles
• Priced at a 300–400% premium—and earned it with superior sourcing, quality, and design
• Used Kickstarter for proof of demand, not just funding, turning 3,000 backers into an early marketing engine
• Built brand momentum through earned media and partnerships—like Shake Shack and Fishwife—over paid ads
• Scaled distribution in three deliberate phases: premium → mass → mainstream

The key insight: pricing was not a barrier, it was a moat. By anchoring perception through quality, Fly By Jing redefined what consumers expect from Asian sauces, creating a new premium standard that others now follow.

For founders, the lesson is clear: stop competing at the bottom. When you combine undeniable product quality with sharp category positioning, a premium price isn’t a risk; it’s your fastest route to market leadership.