Van’s Kitchen — which is a women-owned and minority-owned business — has noted that it is a company built on diversity, and it supports people of all backgrounds through its actions and deeds.
Workforce Diversity
In 1986, Van and Kim Nguyen and their daughter Theresa — all who had immigrated to the United States in 1966 — began Van Oriental Food. In 2014, with the retirement of her parents, Theresa became CEO and her husband Carl Motter became chief revenue officer.
The company lives its beliefs.
“We believe in providing opportunities so all people can fulfill their dreams,” said Theresa Motter. “No matter your gender, nationality, age or class, everyone deserves an equal opportunity at success.”
Team members are called Roll Models and the company celebrates the uniqueness that they all can bring to the table — they are a diverse bunch where communication at any given moment may be in English, Spanish or Vietnamese.
The company features some of these Roll Models with their inspiring stories on the Van’s Kitchen website.
The majority of Van’s line employees are of Latino and Hispanic heritage; when Van’s needed to up its production it was this group that most contributed to filling the needs.
Celebration of Heritage & Diversity
While diversity is a full-time commitment, Van’s Kitchen also joins in on celebrating and supporting certain times of year dedicated to various cultures.
In May, Van’s Kitchen joined in celebrating AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Heritage Month. With an extensive dedicated section on the company’s website, articles detail how people could celebrate with them by educating themselves, immersing themselves in the culture and supporting AAPI-owned businesses.
Van’s Kitchen also promoted the month with a dedicated e-mail “Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with Van’s Kitchen,” inviting readers to lean more.
In September, Van’s Kitchen will be celebrating diversity again with Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. As with AAPI, Van’s has dedicated a page on its website to celebrate this culture and the Hispanic Roll Models who work with them.
Celebrating diversity with both employees and customers is an important foundational tenant for Van’s Kitchen and one the company hopes to support in multiple ways.
