Minnesota woman creates Hmong-inspired, compostable dinnerware

Ying Xiong grew up attending large Hmong weddings and other events where guests were served food in plastic or plastic foam dishes that went into the landfill.

She wanted to combine her culture with her interest in sustainability, so in June, she launched JY Line, a small business that sells biodegradable, Hmong-inspired dinnerware.

"My thought was, 'Let's find something that's probably better for the environment,' and so that's what really inspired me to create these plates," she said. "The reason why it's Hmong-inspired is so that we can use it at our community parties and our activities."

Xiong, 39, runs the company by herself out of her home in Woodbury. The name JY Line came from Xiong's first name and Jane, a secondary name she also uses.

Large parties and gatherings are common in Hmong culture, and many Hmong people look to them as a way to find community, she said. Traditional Hmong funerals can last 24 hours a day for three days, with several meals and snacks served throughout the event.

"With our parties … a number of people are there," she said. "If you're talking about a wedding, that can be like two, three hundred" people.

Although she's always been interested in environmentalism, learning about the climate crisis in school and college made her more enthusiastic about protecting the environment, she said.

"It's like, 'OK, well, what can we do better?'" Xiong said.

JY Line's plates are made from sugarcane; its spoons, knives and forks are made from cornstarch. The products are compostable. The edges of the plates are decorated with several qwj — a spiraling Hmong symbol that represents the unification of two families and the moon. Many Hmong products — from embroidery to porcelain plates — feature the symbol.

The design gives the plates elegance, Xiong said. It was also important to make her products durable so that they were a viable alternative to plastic and plastic foam. She alternated the qwj in pink and green because those colors are common in Hmong embroidery.

Although Xiong finds it challenging to sell her dinnerware when people are more used to plastic and plastic foam, she said she hopes the Hmong community will be receptive to her products once they gain more exposure.

The plates Xiong sells include three compartments to separate the diverse variety of food typically offered at Hmong events. Hmong cuisine can range from salads to noodles to dry noodles to soup to sweet pork to rice, she said.

Sometime after the war ended in 1975, Xiong's parents dodged artillery and gunfire to escape Laos, and made a raft out of bamboo to cross the Mekong River into neighboring Thailand.

Her parents immigrated to the United States in 1980 after finding sponsors in Madison, Ohio. They first settled there and moved to Minnesota a couple of years later to be near family.

JY Line allowed Xiong to realize her goal of starting a business.

"I've always wanted to start my own business," she said. "I've always thought of things that we can do differently, in particular, more, 'What can we do for the environment?'"

She said she felt emboldened to improve life around her after listening to motivational speaker and podcaster Rob Dial of the Mindset Mentor.

While she was doing product research, eco-friendly dinnerware caught her eye. It took her a couple weeks to print the first sample plates and two months to complete the final products. She funded all the expenses herself.

Between her full-time job as a dental assistant and being a mother of four children ages 5 to 14, it hasn't been easy for Xiong to find time to market her products and communicate with her manufacturer. But she hopes that running her business eventually will become easier.

Customers can order her products by messaging JY Line on Facebook. Every set contains 100 plates, knives, forks and spoons. A box costs $55.

Customer Hlee Vang said she loved the dinnerware. The plates were "too pretty to be eaten on," she said. Her only criticism was that the butter knives "were a bit small and the forks and spoons were a bit soft." However, Vang said she would order again.

Xiong said she hopes to expand her business and eventually sell her products on Amazon, so that Hmong people who live outside of Minnesota can order her dinnerware.