{"title":"In the footsteps of the Chinese diaspora: Lee Kum Kee and its worldwide oyster sauce trading network","authors":"K. Ong","doi":"10.1177/0117196820930310","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Lee Kum Kee (LKK) is the largest and best-known Chinese sauce brand in the world. The Hong Kong-based family enterprise, which originated in South China in 1888, has prospered through its worldwide oyster sauce trading network built among the Chinese diaspora. This paper examines the rise of LKK from the perspective of its network resources. It appears that LKK’s dynamics with the ‘old’ and ‘new’ overseas Chinese communities are rather different: while it maintains its hold on the former, it has just begun to tap into the network resources of the latter. Hong Kong as a key hub of the Chinese diaspora was crucial in the construction of LKK’s trading network. It also shaped the identity of LKK, making LKK first and foremost a Hong Kong Chinese enterprise rather than a Chinese enterprise.","PeriodicalId":46248,"journal":{"name":"Asian and Pacific Migration Journal","volume":"10 1","pages":"186 - 206"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian and Pacific Migration Journal","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0117196820930310","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"DEMOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Lee Kum Kee (LKK) is the largest and best-known Chinese sauce brand in the world. The Hong Kong-based family enterprise, which originated in South China in 1888, has prospered through its worldwide oyster sauce trading network built among the Chinese diaspora. This paper examines the rise of LKK from the perspective of its network resources. It appears that LKK’s dynamics with the ‘old’ and ‘new’ overseas Chinese communities are rather different: while it maintains its hold on the former, it has just begun to tap into the network resources of the latter. Hong Kong as a key hub of the Chinese diaspora was crucial in the construction of LKK’s trading network. It also shaped the identity of LKK, making LKK first and foremost a Hong Kong Chinese enterprise rather than a Chinese enterprise.
期刊介绍:
The Asian and Pacific Migration Journal (APMJ) was launched in 1992, borne out of the conviction of the need to have a migration journal originating from the region that would provide a regional perspective of migration. Users will be able to read any article published from 1992 to 2006, to search all the articles by words or keywords and to copy or print partially or fully any article.