Tao Huabi

Tao Huabi (; born January 1947) is a Chinese entrepreneur, best known as the founder of the chili sauce brand Lao Gan Ma ("Old Godmother").

Biography Tao was born in a poverty-stricken village in Meitan County, Guizhou, in January 1947. She was the eighth girl in the family and wasn't taught how to read or write. During the Great Chinese Famine, she dug for wild vegetables and tried various ways to eat plant roots using whatever she had to try to make the little food her family had taste better.

At the age of 20, Tao married an accountant in a local geological team. In time the couple had two sons: Li Guishan and Li Hui . Not long after, her husband became sick, obliging Tao to earn money to cover her husband's medical costs and support their sons. She went to Guangzhou to find a factory job as a migrant worker, but after her husband died, she returned to Guizhou to care for her children. She began to sell rice curd and vegetables in a street stall.

In 1989, Tao opened up her own restaurant in Guiyang, Guizhou, where she sold simple noodles with spicy hot sauce with soybeans. She became known as a "godmother" to poor students as she would always give them discounts and some extra food when they could not pay for the food.

According to Chinese media, Tao reportedly retired in 2014. Li Hui is no longer on the list of Lao Gan Ma shareholders, but she is still active as a manager in the company. Her older son Li Guishan and a man named Li Miaoxing finally inherited the last 1% of her shares, in total owning 51% and 49% of the shares respectively, in order to lead on her legacy. However, after struggles and declining profits in 2017 and 2018, she returned back to an active role in managing the company in 2019 and brought it back to a growing course again.