Stacy Seuamsothabandith, CEO of Laos to Your House, fondly remembers her Lao relatives drinking Beerlao at family gatherings during her childhood in the Quad Cities.
Beerlao, brewed with Lao jasmine rice and European malt, hops and yeast, is considered the national beer of Laos. It was hard to find in the Chicago area until Laos to Your House recently became Beerlao’s importer in some Midwest states. The food business imports the beer directly from Lao Brewing Co. in Laos. Its first shipment arrived in Illinois in June.
The rice in Beerlao gives it a smooth finish that goes well with southeast Asian cuisine, Byron Gully, chief operating officer of Laos to Your House, said. Many customers asked the founders to bring Beerlao to Illinois.
Because of Laos to Your House, Beerlao is now sold more widely in big stores such as select Garfield Beverage Warehouse locations and Sam’s Club in Rockford and Elgin. Starting in September, Sam’s Club will sell the beer in Montgomery, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, and two locations near Minneapolis in Eagan and White Bear Lake.
Beerlao has importers on the east and west coasts, but its previous Midwest distributor stopped selling it years ago. But last year, Laos to Your House got limited distribution for Illinois, followed by rights to distribute to big retailers in Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Beerlao is also carried by Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Sisters in the West Loop.
It goes “very well with our food and I want to introduce it to my diners because it’s so hard to find,” Saigon Sisters owner Mary Nguyen Aregoni said.
Aregoni is ethnically Vietnamese but was born in Laos and lived there until about age seven. Beerlao has sentimental value for her.
“I want to carry great Asian beers, and I had Beerlao during my travels in Laos with my mom. And it was a backpackers favorite and hard to find in the U.S.,” she said.
And it tastes good. “It’s like Belgian style and more complex than standard lager beer,” Aregoni said. “It’s not Bud Light.”
An 8-ounce bottle costs $6.50 at Saigon Sisters.
Demand for Beerlao has been strong and Laos to Your House hopes to bring the beer to more big retailers. It expects its next shipment — a container of Beerlao with more than 28,000 bottles — to arrive in the U.S. in September.
Laos to Your House is a family-owned food business based at The Hatchery Chicago, an incubator in East Garfield Park. Its ready-made Lao dishes are in 12 Mariano’s in the Chicago area, as well as select Foxtrot and Fresh Market stores.
Beer fits with the company’s goal to ensure that Laos is no longer the “forgotten” Asian country.
“Every bottle of Beerlao represents an opportunity not only for someone to enjoy a great beer, but also to start a conversation about Laos,” Seuamsothabandith said. “If someone picks up a bottle because they’re curious and then learns something about the country, its people or its cuisine, we’ve accomplished something far greater than simply making a sale. That’s exactly what our mission is about.”
Laos to Your House launched in 2022, with Seuamsothabandith as CEO and her brother Keo Seuam as executive chef. Their parents were refugees from Laos who immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1970s, due to war in southeast Asia. Gully, Seuamsothabandith’s husband, joined full-time in 2024.
Fluctuating tariffs last year were a challenge but settled at about 10% for products from Laos. But that could change any time, Gully said. The current tariff will expire near the end of July. It’s unclear what will happen next.
“This is one of the many things that make it so hard for a small business to take a chance: the uncertainty in the administration’s policies,” Gully said.
“Our supply chain will be longer now and more risky, especially since we are importing directly from Laos. Anything that impacts shipping — wars, the cost of fuel — will impact us,” he said.
But that doesn’t deter consumers. Beerlao is in Sam’s Club because its customers in Rockford, home to a sizable southeast Asian community, asked the retailer to stock the beer. Sam’s Club started looking for someone to supply it and came across Laos to Your House, which was just starting to import Beerlao.
“It was really the Lao movement that bubbled Beerlao up to the surface. Then through searching, Sam’s Club found us and reached out,” Seuamsothabandith said.
“Beerlao is a great example of how listening to our members helps us deliver authentic finds,” Madelyn Yates, merchant at Sam’s Club, said in a statement.
“Who would have thought Beerlao would be in a big box retailer next to Heineken?” Seuamsothabandith said.
It’s another step in Laos to Your House’s mission to elevate Laos, first through food and now through beer.