Asian street-food brand Wow Bao will establish its first US company-operated manufacturing facility in Forest City, North Carolina.
State Governor Josh Stein said Wow Bao will invest $6.5m in Rutherford County, which will create 88 jobs.
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To support the company’s expansion into North Carolina, a “performance-based grant of $180,000” has been awarded from the One North Carolina Fund, the a statement released by the governor’s office said.
Wow Bao CFO Matt Fallon said: “With a world-class workforce and vibrant food and beverage industry, it became clear that Forest City and the State of North Carolina were the perfect home for this exciting phase of Wow Bao’s expansion.
Fallon added the company looks forward to “begin cooking up America’s number one bao in Forest City and shipping it out to the rest of the country.”
Founded in 2003 in Chicago, Wow Bao began as a single kiosk in Water Tower Place.
Since 2017, the company has been owned by private-equity firm Valor Equity Partners.
The brand now offers an Asian-inspired menu featuring bao (steamed buns), potstickers, and soup dumplings.
Wow Bao has now expanded beyond storefronts into approximately 700 virtual restaurants across the US as well as more than 6,000 grocery stores, airports, universities, hotels, e-commerce sites, and hot-food vending machines.
In October, Wow Bao announced it had secured listings at 1,200 Target stores in the US.
