The story of Hsu’s Ginseng Enterprises didn’t begin in the field, but with a letter sent across the Pacific. What started as a curious social worker’s side project in 1974 has since grown into a family business. But the ginseng journey came with hardship as well as success.
Will Hsu told Mid-West Farm Report how his father, an immigrant from Taiwan, first discovered the “green gold” of Marathon County while working for the State of Wisconsin. After hearing about the medicinal herb from a coworker, the elder Hsu drove to Marathon City to knock on doors and learn the trade from local farmers.
The business took root after a gift of Wisconsin ginseng helped improve Will’s grandmother’s health back in Taiwan. This personal proof of the product’s quality led Will’s father to quit his job and move the family to Wausau to farm full-time.
Eventually, Will left a finance career at General Mills to return to the family business in 2011, spurred by a “perfect storm” of a family health crisis and a Mother’s Day snowstorm that crushed the industry’s shade structures.
Today, he navigates a volatile global market where trade wars and tariffs have shifted traditional shipping routes to China and Hong Kong.
Despite these economic “whiplash” effects, the Hsu family remains committed to the unique quality of the Wisconsin crop, which often commands prices four to five times higher than Chinese-grown varieties. For Will, the mission is now about making sure the world understands that value.
“We want that consumer to make a conscious decision to pay more for our product because they feel it’s worth more and it’s more valuable to them,” Hsu says.
As the number of ginseng growers in the state has dwindled from over 200 to fewer than 70, the Hsu family continues to bridge the gap between Wisconsin soil and the ancient medicinal traditions of the East.
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