george kao, principal & ceo

George Kao is the principal and CEO of Standard Fare Food Company, where he specializes in promoting world class hospitality, food and beverage. He has a great appreciation for global cultures, and the language of food is his medium in connecting with clients.

He was born in Taipei, Taiwan and as a child, lived between Japan and the United States. Kao is fluent in English, Japanese, and Taiwanese. Through his travels and constant exposure to foods and cultures, the curiosity into hospitality was always there. Discovering Larousse Gastronomique (encyclopedia of French gastronomy) at age 21 cemented his desire and ultimate career path.

Although he pursued to be a banker like his grandfather, his internship at Goldman Sachs Tokyo helped him close one chapter of his life and catapulted him to pursue his true calling in life.

Kao’s first position out of school was National Sales Representative at D’Artagnan, a specialty purveyor of foie gras, premium meats and other gourmet ingredients. Despite not having a seasoned culinary background, Kao was able to navigate through the chef and restaurant world. He familiarized himself with specialty gourmet foods quickly, setting daily sales records for fresh truffles in New York City. Customers included Per Se, Daniel, Jean Georges, Four Seasons Restaurant, and Ducasse, to name a few.

After a few years in the industry, he found himself at New York Mutual Trading Company, a 100 year old Japanese Food and Beverage importer and distributor, where he handled alcohol distribution for the entirety of the East Coast; building relationships and educating sales representatives; maintained key on- and off-premise accounts on all facets of saké, shochu and Japanese craft beers; he liaised with makers and retailers to highlight products in a variety of markets. He grew the market 10x since joining the company. He has successfully completed both coveted John Gauntner’s saké courses and was head instructor at the Saké School of America NY, Beverage Educator for NY Mutual Trading Company, and finally Culinary Events Director of the Japanese Culinary Center (now MTC Kitchen). He prides himself in ability to demystify and educate people of all skill levels about food and beverage.

After close to 7 years with NY Mutual Trading Company, Kao took a 4 year tenure at the world famous Sun Noodle as Director of Sales for the US and European markets. Partnering with ramen extraordinaire, Chef Shigetoshi Nakamura, Kao traveled extensively across the United States and Europe helping over 200 ramen chefs get their first bowls of noodles perfected. Other notable works include educating and creating distribution channels, improving the landscape of Ramen here in the US for the next generation of chefs seeking noodle fame.

Original founding partner of SakaMai (now closed after 11 years of business in Manhattan), Kao has always kept one foot in the distribution ring and the other foot in the realm of retail. The position of food & beverage director at SakaMai was fitting for Kao; his 2 decades of experience and passion for the industry make him the exemplification of hospitality.