Mae Ploy® was founded in 1921 in Bangkok, Thailand by a woman named Praiwan Chit-ampawan. She started the company by making and selling Thai curry pastes and sauces from her home kitchen. Her initial offerings of green curry paste and red curry paste quickly became popular with local households and restaurants.
As demand for Praiwan’s high-quality pastes and sauces increased, she formally established Mae Ploy® as a business in 1940. The company name “Mae Ploy” translates to “Mother Ploy” in Thai – a nod to Praiwan’s status as the matriarch and master chef behind the iconic flavors.
Keeping with Tradition
From the beginning, Mae Ploy® has been deeply committed to traditional Thai cooking. Our products are made according to time-honored recipes using fresh ingredients and age-old techniques. For example, we still slowly roast and pound whole spices by hand to extract their purest essences.
We also source many ingredients that are native to Thailand whenever possible. These include galangal, kaffir lime, lemongrass, Thai basil, Thai chilies, and more. Using authentic components allows us to capture the rich, complex flavors that Thai cuisine is renowned for worldwide.
Quality Control
To ensure consistency and quality across all our product lines, Mae Ploy® operates its own modern production facilities. We meticulously control every step of the process – from sourcing ingredients to bottling final products.
Our on-site labs rigorously analyze raw materials, while our R&D teams work to perfect recipes and formulas. We reject any batch that fails to meet our high standards before it reaches store shelves. This gives customers complete confidence in the Mae Ploy® name.
Product Range
Today, the Mae Ploy® catalog includes over 60 different items that form the core of Thai cooking:
- Curry Pastes: Our original red, green, panang, and massaman curry pastes deliver the right balance of aroma, spice, and depth. They provide the base for rich curries but can also be used to season stir-fries, dips, and more.
- Sauces: Varieties like sweet chili sauce, sriracha sauce, and plum sauce lend the perfect note of sweet, spicy, or savory flavor to dishes. They are versatile condiments that can be used in many cuisines.
- Soup Bases: Our tom yum and tom kha paste cubes capture the hot, sour, salty, and sweet tastes of classic Thai soups in an easy, convenient form. Just add to hot water or coconut milk for full-flavored broths.
- Rice and Noodle Seasonings: Products like our pad thai sauce and fried rice seasoning blend take rice and noodle dishes to the next level fast.
- Specialty Pastes and Sauces: Unique blends like panang curry paste, red curry simmer sauce, and tangy tamarind sauce provide even more authentic flavor options.
- Cooking Wines: The right wines, like our sweet Thai cooking wine, add depth and accentuate other ingredients beautifully.
- Vinegars: Our rice vinegar and white vinegar help provide the characteristic sour note in many Thai preparations.
With such a wide selection to choose from, anyone can easily add true Thai taste to their cooking.
International Reach
From humble beginnings in Bangkok, Mae Ploy® has expanded worldwide. Our products are now sold in over 60 countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and beyond. Overseas distribution enables us to share the flavors of Thailand globally.
We are highly honored that Mae Ploy® has become a trusted pantry staple for so many households. Our growth internationally demonstrates the universal appeal of authentic Thai cuisine.
To ensure availability worldwide, we operate large manufacturing plants in Thailand as well as the United States and Germany. However, all our facilities use the same traditional recipes and methods. This guarantees consistent, authentic Thai flavor wherever you enjoy Mae Ploy® products.
Innovation and Development
While our heritage is in tradition, Mae Ploy® also embraces innovation. Our team is constantly developing new products that capture emerging flavors and cooking trends. Recent launches include:
- Thai sweet chili sauce – our unique take on the popular sweet and tangy chili sauce.
- Thai stir-fry oil – an all-purpose aromatic seasoning oil for woks.
- Thai red curry simmer sauce – a ready-to-use cooking sauce to make curries effortless.
- Thai coconut milk powder – rich coconut flavor without the weight and bulk of cans.
We also reformulate existing products to improve their quality and convenience while maintaining authentic taste. For example, we now offer many pastes in squeezable tubes for easy portion control.
Our recipe development team frequently travels Thailand collecting inspiration from street vendors, home cooks, and top chefs. This allows us to continuously refine and expand our offerings with new takes on Thai flavor.
Giving Back
Mae Ploy® is committed to giving back to the communities we operate in across the globe. For example:
- We source many ingredients from local Thai farmers and empower them to cultivate native crops sustainably.
- We donate a portion of profits each year to food banks and culinary training programs.
- We partner with organizations that support girls’ education and professional training in Thailand.
- Our facilities implement energy-saving processes to reduce environmental impact.
Our charitable initiatives ensure we support the people and places key to our ongoing success.
Looking to the Future
As we celebrate over 100 years in business, the entire Mae Ploy® team looks forward to continuing our founder Praiwan’s legacy long into the future.
We’ll keep crafting the high-quality Thai ingredients that home cooks and professional chefs worldwide rely on. We’ll continue pursuing perfection through tradition, quality, and innovation across all our product lines.
Most importantly, we’ll share our passion for the incredible flavors of authentic Thai cuisine with more and more global markets. We hope you’ll join us on our journey to bring the tastes of Thailand to kitchens across the world for another century to come!
