Omsom Serves Bold Flavors and Packaging

Vietnamese-American entrepreneur sister duo Vanessa and Kim Pham wanted to make it easier for everyone to recreate dishes featuring the signature flavors for some of Southeast Asia’s most beloved dishes, leading them to launch Omsom. Omsom translates to rambunctious in Vietnamese and is often used to admonish unruly children, but it works to great effect for this upstart brand that wants to share bold Asian flavors.

Omsom produces starter packs in the form of shelf-stable pouches with all the aromatics, spices, oils, and other ingredients necessary to recreate dishes inspired by Vietnamese lemongrass BBQ, Thai larb, and Filipino sisig. The starters are added to proteins or vegetables to create the base of a snack or meal. While the pouches are an easy way to make Asian staples, they are also versatile, allowing for home cooks to be inventive and creative, using non-traditional proteins or adding other spices and ingredients to make dinner night their own.

The branding and packaging are equally bold and avoid Asian tropes used ad nauseam in America. There are no dragons, pagodas, rice farmer hats, or racist typography; instead, it is visually vibrant and bold, using stark color contrasts to embody the word “omsom." Wavy elements recall fire, steam, and grills, and, taken together, it evokes the vibes of an evening out at an Asian street market.

Omsom’s starters were developed in collaboration with NYC-based chefs Chat and Ohm Suansilphong of Fishcheeks, Nicole Ponseca of Jeepney, and Jimmy Ly of Madame Vo, and are available directly from Omsom on their website.