Rhee Bros

Rhee Bros, Inc. (Korean: 리브라더스) is an Asian foods wholesaler and distributor. It sells Asian food products from a variety of origins, including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Filipino; and offers dry, refrigerated, frozen, and household goods.[1] Along with its distribution partners, Rhee Bros sells retail and foodservice accounts in the US and internationally. The company has its headquarters in Columbia, Maryland.[2] Company revenue was approximately $300 million USD in 2004.[3]

Rhee Bros, Inc.
IndustryAsian food wholesale and distribution
Founded1976 (1976) in Silver Spring, Maryland
FounderSyng Man Rhee and his three brothers
Headquarters
Hanover, Maryland
,
United States

Rhee Bros was founded in 1976 by Syng Man Rhee, along with his three brothers, who started in a small warehouse in Silver Spring, Maryland.[2] In 1989, the company began a retail affiliate relationship to sell Rhee Bros' products at Lotte Plaza, an Asian supermarket chain in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. A retail relationship with Assi Plaza, which has stores across the country, followed.[2] In 2004, the company reported having over 40 Assi-branded stores in Maryland, New York, California, and Georgia.[3] As of September 2023, Assi Plaza has closed all but two locations.


In 2001, the company issued a recall of about 2,400 boxes of "Lotte Margaret" cookies imported from Korea because they contained unlabelled peanuts and eggs.[4]

In 2020, Rhee Bros was sued by the state of California for violating Prop 65 with their seafoods which contained high levels of the toxic heavy metals lead and cadmium. The suite also claims that Rhee Bros violated California's unfair competition laws and its prohibition on fraudulent practices. [5][6]

References
  1. "Bloomberg profile". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  2. Shapiro, Stephanie (2005-08-10). "Asian ascent". The Baltimore Sun. pp. F1, F4. Retrieved 2017-12-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Tanaka, Wendy (2005-02-23). "Asian markets follow their clientele into the suburbs". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. C04. Retrieved 2017-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Korean cookies contain peanuts, an allergy threat". The Desert Sun. 2001-11-18. p. 48. Retrieved 2017-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "California sues 5 companies for allegedly selling seafood with toxic metals without warnings". KTLA. 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  6. "California sues Clearwater, PAFCO, others over lack of cadmium, lead warnings | SeafoodSource". www.seafoodsource.com. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
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