Our Story

leland and sarah yai's thai founders

Hi! We’re Leland and Sarah, and we’re so happy you found Yai’s!

We created Yai’s Thai shortly out of college to build something together that we truly believe in. We’re passionate about changing how people think of and experience healthy eating, and wanted to improve the options available at stores.

Naturally, we turned to the recipes we knew best! Leland’s half-Thai heritage lead us to a lot of Thai cooking in our own kitchen, and also lead us to our name - “Yai” is the Thai word for “grandma” (and is pronounced to rhyme with “Thai”).

Our products all started in our home kitchen, where we whipped up trial batches with carefully selected ingredients, and many-a-phone-call with Leland’s mom until we had achieved the perfect balance.

We firmly believe there’s no reason for so many unhealthy products to persist, but also that healthy alternatives shouldn’t have to compromise on flavor. 

We want to create products that taste amazing. Full stop. Not “oh it’s good for a special diet product.” We aim for “this is delicious, oh and it’s also [fill in special diet here].” 

Many of our sauces are Whole30 Approved, as well as paleo friendly, gluten free, vegan, and low sodium, so you can eat your heart out knowing your sauce is just there to bring the flavor!
 

Since authentic Thai ingredients naturally have such bold flavors, we made a commitment to let these flavors shine without adding any junk, and to do so with products that are easy for anyone to use at home, without having to follow long recipes and gather obscure ingredients (galangal anyone?). Thai food is delicious, and we want you to be able to enjoy it regardless of your dietary preferences and cooking skills! #justaddyais

We’re so excited to share our recipes with you!