Rhee Bros., Inc.

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Assi Brand logo

Rhee Bros., Inc. (Korean: 리브라더스)[1] is the largest importer of Korean foods in North America. It is based in Columbia, Maryland, United States and distributes to over 1,500 retailers.

The company also imports and distributes Japanese, Chinese, and Hispanic food products. The company also operates 15 Asian supermarkets across North America.

Rhee Brothers Inc. was founded in 1976 by Syngman (Steve) Rhee, who came to the United States in the 1960s, and serves as the company's chairman and CEO. His three younger brothers fill management positions in the company. The company was first based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was relocated to Columbia, Maryland, in 1979. The company's private brand, Assi (established in 1976), is applied to foods they import from Korea. The company's West Coast distribution wing, located in Santa Fe Springs, California, is called Korean Farm. In 2007, Rhee Brothers, Inc., established an affiliate called ARECO, in Qingdao, Shandong, China.

In 2002, the company was fined US$100,000 by the Food and Drug Administration for intentionally importing vegetable mandu (dumplings), which actually contained meat.[2]