From Newcomer to Founder: How Han Yue Built OHME! Foods in Vancouver

OHME! Foods is giving classic fruit snacks a fresh, flavourful crunch. Founded in Vancouver, B.C., the freeze-dried fruit and snack brand transforms carefully sourced, ripe fruit into colourful, craveable bites. We sat down with co-founder Han Yue to discuss the vision, values and newcomer journey behind a brand finding its place on shelves across Canada.

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1. Please tell us about yourself and your experience as a newcomer entrepreneur in Canada. 

My name is Han, and I’m the co-founder of OHME! Foods Inc., a Vancouver-based freeze-dried fruit and snack brand. I came to Canada in 2012 to study health information science at the University of Victoria. What started as an international student experience turned into the foundation for a new life. After graduating, I worked full-time in health IT before taking the leap into entrepreneurship.

Being a newcomer gave me a unique perspective. I learned to navigate unfamiliar systems, build trust from scratch and keep moving when things felt uncertain. Those same instincts became essential when I started building a business. I didn’t plan to become an entrepreneur in Canada, but looking back, each step prepared me for it.

2. Please tell us about your business, its origin story, your mission and vision.

OHME! began with a familiar pandemic habit: eating on autopilot. We reached for the same breakfast and the same snacks every day. The food was technically fine, but it had stopped feeling enjoyable.

My co-founder Jenny and I were both working in healthcare. We knew what eating well was supposed to look like but knowing that didn’t make it feel good or intentional. That disconnect got us curious, and that curiosity led us to freeze-dried fruit: fruit picked ripe, dried in a way that locks in its flavour and nutrients, and transformed into something genuinely crunchy and fun to eat.

We loved how it tasted, but not how it showed up on shelves. Most of what we found felt dated, as though it hadn’t been invited into real life yet. So, we built the version we wanted. What began as kitchen experiments became farmers’ markets, late nights packing orders and a moment that kept repeating itself: someone would take a bite, pause and say, “Wait… this is actually really good.” That reaction is the reason OHME! exists.

Our mission is to make healthy snacking an easy yes: no guilt, no overthinking and no compromise on taste. Our vision is to earn a permanent spot in Canadian homes and, eventually, homes beyond Canada.

3. What inspired you to start your own business in Canada?

It started with a gap we felt personally. Jenny and I are health-conscious people who were struggling to find nutritious and enjoyable snacks. That tension felt worth solving.

Canada gave us a supportive environment in which to try. Programs, support networks and an openness to new ideas made entrepreneurship feel possible. As newcomers, we also felt we had something to prove, and that energy became a powerful motivator as we built the business from the ground up.

4. What are some of your biggest wins since launching your business? 

The one that still surprises me to say out loud: OHME! is now carried in more than 500 retail stores across Canada. When we were packing orders on our kitchen table, that number would have felt impossible.

But before that milestone, the wins were smaller and just as meaningful. There was our first farmers’ market, where strangers tried our product and came back for more. There was our first wholesale reorder, and there was getting accepted into York University’s YSpace Food & Beverage Accelerator this year. Each of those moments told us we were onto something real.

Our products are also available online, and our community of customers from across the country keeps coming back for more.

5. How did Futurpreneur support your entrepreneurial journey? 

Futurpreneur came in at a critical stage. We invested the financing directly in inventory and packaging, the unglamorous but essential work of getting our product out the door and onto store shelves. Without that support, reaching our current scale would have taken much longer.

Beyond the loan, having a Futurpreneur mentor assigned to us made a real difference. Running a business throws problems at you that you never saw coming. Having someone experienced in your corner, someone who asks the right questions and keeps you grounded, is invaluable.

6. What advice would you offer to newcomer entrepreneurs starting their businesses in Canada?

There are three things I’d genuinely stand behind:

• First, find programs offered by Futurpreneur, accelerators and newcomer business networks. Starting a business in a new country is hard and these resources are here to help.

• Second, don’t underestimate the power of showing up in person. Our farmers’ markets and pop-ups taught us more about our customers than any spreadsheet could. Get in front of people early.

• Third, your outsider perspective is an advantage. As a newcomer, you see things that others take for granted. That’s where new ideas come from. Lean into what makes your point of view different.

7. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about yourself as an entrepreneur? 

That I’m more resilient than I thought I was. Building OHME! has thrown things at us I never could have prepared for: supply chain challenges, logistical headaches, regulatory changes and the unglamorous reality of an early-stage business. And every time, the answer was the same: stay calm, solve the problem in front of you and keep going.

I’ve also learned that the hardest moments often teach you the most. I wouldn’t trade any of them.

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Ready to build your own success story in Canada? Like Han, you don’t have to do it alone. Discover how Futurpreneur’s My Canadian Startup program, presented by TD Bank, can help you turn your idea into a thriving business.