The Founder, Ly Bui

My Story

My journey into the intricacies of the coffee industry began with a single trip to Melbourne, where I first learnt the art of being a Barista in specialty coffee in May, 2015. Since then, I realised that just being a Barista was not enough in order to make a good cup of coffee, but that a precise roasting technique, skill and quality beans were also essential.

Having returned to Melbourne in 2018 to attend two courses – the Specialty Roasting and Green Coffee Beans Course, I achieved the certified Q-Gra and visited coffee farms in Vietnam to learn more about the processes of the coffee supply chain. During the trips, I shared my knowledge with the farmers to help them understand more about the quality and value of their coffee beans, so that they can reasonably price their quality coffee beans to capture a larger share of the total value – I believe that contented farmers consistently produce higher quality beans.

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My earliest childhood memories of eating fresh, flavourful Banh Mi in the neighbourhood bakery of Saigon are still prominent in my mind. Discovering coffee, I found that Banh Mi complemented the unique flavour profiles of Vietnamese coffee. This struck me like an epiphany, and I introduced innovation and modern concepts to Vietnamese traditional coffee and cuisine. Hence 'La Saigon' was born.

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