Leslie Joe

The founder of the largest tofu giant in all of Canada was born in China, but raised on the streets of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Leslie Joe moved to Canada at a very young age to apprentice with an uncle who owned a small residence in Chinatown. That residence housed a room that was dedicated entirely to the making of bean curd. Leslie quickly learned the old-world wisdom of the soybean from his uncle’s helper and together they cooked, mashed, cured and sold approximately 200 bean cakes a day to the local residents of Chinatown. Seeing the potential for something more, Leslie relocated the operation to its’ present location on the corner of Powell St. He made his tofu manually in a little kitchen behind his grocery store, named Sunrise Market. As time went on, Leslie’s family grew and so did his business. Tofu production soon became a family business as each of Leslie’s kin would have a part in the process.

Today, the demand for tofu in Vancouver is no longer isolated to the Chinese community. People from every ethnicity have discovered tofu as part of a healthy lifestyle, and consequently, Sunrise tofu can be purchased at all major super market chains throughout Canada. Sunrise Tofu is controlled by Leslie’s son, Peter Joe who is its current CEO, along with the support of his three sisters. In 2000, a new manufacturing plant opened in Toronto to meet the growing demand of the North American market. Sunrise Tofu has now become the largest tofu manufacturer in all of Canada and employs over 200 Canadians.