WV-based business reaches millions of new customers overseas with Coupang
J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works produces salt from ancient underground reservoir
J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works, a 14-employee family business in Malden, West Virginia that produces signature culinary salts, is expanding internationally for the first time by selling its products in Asia through Coupang, a U.S.-based technology company and international retailer. Nancy Bruns, a descendant of the original family that founded the business more than 200 years ago, took over the business in 2013, and found success selling their custom salts to consumers, chefs and restaurants across the U.S.
Originally only sold to U.S. customers, the company is now able to reach millions of new international customers by working with Coupang, distributing 26 distinct products to customers in Korea and Taiwan. Saltworks is one of thousands of American businesses working with Coupang from all 50 states, helping facilitate more than $5 billion in sales of U.S. products overseas in 2025 alone to millions of consumers around the world.
“I’m excited to see how our relationship with Coupang can grow our business globally. This is something we always hoped to do, but as a small business, didn’t have the capacity to launch,” said Bruns. “I would highly recommend Coupang to other companies looking to expand into global markets.”
U.S. Rep. Carol Miller visits J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works to promote free and fair trade policies
Coupang recently joined U.S. Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) on a visit to J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works to highlight how American innovation, technology and trade policy can work together to help small and midsize businesses grow internationally. The visit was an opportunity to spotlight the role family‑owned businesses play as the backbone of West Virginia’s economy, and to recognize how they are evolving to compete in today’s global marketplace.
“It was wonderful to be at J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works, a family-owned West Virginia business with deep roots in our state,” said Rep. Miller. “While staying grounded in tradition, they’re finding new ways to grow and reach customers beyond West Virginia so consumers around the world can experience a piece of ‘Almost Heaven.’
“This kind of growth is increasingly possible because companies like Coupang are helping American businesses reach customers well beyond their home markets,” Rep. Miller continued, “by handling the complexities of selling internationally that can otherwise stop small- and mid-sized businesses from exporting at all.”
How Coupang helps American companies reach international markets
For many small and medium-size businesses, the process of selling and exporting goods to global customers can seem overwhelming.
But Coupang helps companies like J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works navigate the process. Sellers can choose to manage global customer orders by handling international fulfillment and shipping on their own, or they can opt for Coupang to handle the process. Most sellers choose to let Coupang handle the logistics on their behalf.
Sellers ship their products in bulk directly to Coupang’s fulfillment center in Riverside, California. From there, Coupang employees pack individual orders from the warehouse inventory and packages are flown directly to South Korea or Taiwan where they are ready to be routed to the customer’s location. Coupang also manages most of the administrative process, from paying customs duties to ensuring compliance with export and import regulations on both sides of the transaction.
“Working alongside leaders like Congresswoman Carol Miller, Coupang is proud to help West Virginia small businesses like J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works reach millions of new global customers and drive American economic growth,” said Coupang Chief Global Affairs Officer Robert Porter. “Just last year, Coupang facilitated more than $5 billion in global sales for thousands of U.S. businesses, and we’re excited to see that impact reach West Virginia’s 1st District.”
Age-Old Craftmanship Finds Its Next Frontier
Salt has shaped lives in the Kanawha River valley and Appalachia region for generations, where the mountains shelter a 400-million-year-old sea deep underground, producing an exceptionally pure and mineral-rich salt that is harvested by hand.
“I am a seventh-generation native of our salt-making valley,” says Bruns. “My ancestors’ legacy inspires me every day to keep our family tradition thriving and introduce it to new audiences.”
Today, the team at J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works uses a salt-mining method as old as the region: pumping brine from the ancient Iapetus Ocean beneath the mountains and drying it naturally in the sun, producing an unrefined, mineral-rich finishing salt prized by chefs.
A new chapter for heirloom-heritage salt
For the J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works team, expanding into Asia is not simply a new growth opportunity. It’s an affirmation that a local West Virginia business rooted in history and driven by craftsmanship can join the global economy with confidence.
