The Taste of Legacy: Family, Fruit, and the Future
What happens when a third-generation family business meets a once-in-a-century disruption? For the siblings behind Yun Ding, the answer was simple: reimagine what a legacy could become.
by Anamaria Roa
Family
“Our family business began with a simple yet powerful idea: turning fresh fruits into high-quality juice,” said Pat Yang, former CEO and second generation family member.
That sentence, spoken with calm conviction, carries the weight of more than 50 years of family history. Rooted in Taiwan’s traditional wholesale juice trade since 1968, the family’s early ventures laid the foundation for what would evolve into Yun Ding— now an emerging force in Asia’s food and beverage landscape.
From humble beginnings to regional recognition, the journey has spanned generations, shaped by market shifts, new technologies, and entirely new expectations of what a beverage company can be.
But in 2020, everything changed.
“When the global pandemic hit, nearly 80% of our export clients disappeared overnight,” recalls Ronnie Yang, one of the company’s current leaders. “It shook us deeply, but it forced us to rethink who we were – and who we could become as a company.”
The crisis opened a door the family hadn’t expected.
“We asked ourselves: We have been a strong partner to international clients for many years. If the environment has changed, how can we also impact and serve Taiwan’s market better?”
Covid-19 in hindsight, became the catalyst for transformation.
Redefine
Taiwan is a drink culture capital, but most beverages remain sugary and indulgent. The brothers wondered:
“What if we could offer drinks that are healthier—yet still feel indulgent?”
That question became the origin of Passion24. “Passion24 is our effort to combine our roots in juice with naturopathic ingredients,” says Roger. “We want to make everyday wellness easy, functional, and enjoyable.”
Innovation took many forms.
“For us, innovation means repositioning juice from a sugary indulgence into a wellness vehicle,” explains Anderson Yang. “We redesigned how juice can be consumed—it can carry collagen, protein, adaptogens. That’s how we push the category forward.”
Behind these innovations was the cultural shift DRINK had sparked—giving the team permission to think differently, work differently, and build differently—together.
From that point, brothers Ronnie, Robbin, Anderson, and Roger began to reshape the business, not just out of survival but out of belief. “My mother raised us with natural remedies and a naturopathic lifestyle, which deeply shaped my vision of wellness,” Yang explained. “As someone with a background in hospitality and F&B, I believe wellness should be accessible and part of daily life.”
They weren’t just asking how to recover lost revenue, they were asking what it meant to serve a changing consumer and a changing world. “Taiwan is a drink culture capital, but most drinks are sugary and indulgent. We wondered: what if we could make healthy drinks that still feel indulgent?”
Reinvention
As a long-established B2B operator, Yun Ding excelled in precision and consistency—qualities essential for supplying juice raw materials
to clients around the world. But if the company wanted to shape the next era of beverages, it needed to become more than a supplier.
Yun Ding realized transformation was required: from OEM manufacturing to ODM innovation, to launching its own OBM brand.
This evolution led to the birth of Passion24, created to address a clear gap in the market: healthier beverages that still feel indulgent and enjoyable.
“What we needed was clarity and a shared direction,” Robbin says. “As a family business, we committed to building a culture and a system—a legacy—designed for innovation, experimentation, and consistent impact.”
The siblings understood that innovation isn’t accidental. It grows from disciplined individuals, strong teams, and a culture that rewards
transparency, achievement, and learning.
This became the foundation for YD’s internal transformation, anchored by its new core values DRINK Determination, Reliability, Innovation, Network, and Knowledge.
“DRINK is the principle that guides how we make decisions,” Robbin explains. “It gave everyone—from R&D to production to sales—a
shared language for how we help each other grow and solve complex problems. Most importantly, DRINK gave everyone accountability and ownership.”
With this cultural reset, the team aligned around its mission:
to create high-quality, sustainable, and innovative beverage solutions for the market.
A Family Reimagined
One defining feature of Yun Ding’s evolution is its sibling-led leadership model.
“We each lead in different areas—raw materials, product development, sales, marketing, and management,” the brothers share. “We trust each other’s judgment and stay aligned through open communication.”
The pandemic didn’t just transform their business; it deepened their relationship.
“Working together means seeing each other both as professionals and as people,” Anderson says. “At work, we focus on structure and performance. At home, we stay connected emotionally. We even do quarterly family meditations, a tradition started by our mother, to stay grounded and transparent.”
The past five years became a deep reshaping of identity—a period of unlearning and relearning. The company found ways of working that
were more sustainable for its people and more meaningful for its customers.
“We want Passion 24 to be an icon for functional wellness drinks in Asia—delicious, meaningful, and trusted,” says Roger. “You can still have your orange juice—just with more benefits.”
The Future
Legacy, as it turns out, isn’t just about preservation. Sometimes it’s about letting go of what was, in order to create space for what could be.
As Yun Ding steps into its next chapter, the vision becomes clearer than ever: to redefine how the world drinks—creating solutions that connect lifestyle, culture, and experience.
Passion24 is the first expression of that vision. By turning global ideas into experiences people can drink, the family is building not just beverages, but a new standard for wellness in Asia.
And if the team could speak to their past selves at the beginning of this journey, their message would remain the same. “Don’t aim for perfection— keep it messy. That’s how things grow. Trust the process— if your mission is authentic, things will unfold in their own time.”
