Café T&C, the first modern brand-name café in the Kingdom established in 2003, has expressed its pride in developing the industry. As many internationally famous brand name cafes, restaurants and fast food joints operate in Cambodia, some of them are run by former T&C employees and waiters.

T&C co-founder and Cambodia Restaurant Association vice-president Kuoch Sokly has expressed the companies’ pleasure in seeing Cambodian youths trained in the food and beverage industry continue to thrive.

“We are really over the moon if we see our former colleagues succeed and become leaders at a new facility. As a business person, we want to see young people have skills, expertise and occupations or go to work for international companies,” said Sokly.

Currently in the country, especially in the capital and several major cities, restaurants, hotels, guesthouses and shopping malls have opened to cater to the growth in tourism, said Sokly. Thus, to respond to the quick development and demands, experienced HR is indispensable, giving Cambodian youths with good experience an upper hand.

“When there are multiple vendors in the food and beverage industries like in the country today, it will be both useful and competitive. But for us, we see that it offers many positive benefits for us to be able to develop better and it is also clear that the business is blossoming very well,” he said.

Sokly remembers looking for experienced staff more than 10 years ago when he opened T&C café and restaurant, only to realize the need to create trained staff instead.

“I always looked for the experienced in F&B at every corner, but it was so rare, because [few] Cambodian youths went through the training courses or had experience in the industry, said Sokly.

“Finally, our CBM Corporation decided to invest in building capacity of Cambodian HR, hiring some foreigners to help the training courses, based on their skills such as services for waiters, supervisors, cashiers, and so on. What is special is cooking and beverage courses following the principles of safety, hygiene, taste, aesthetics with high quality,” he said.

Currently, Sokly said many Cambodian youths are currently employed in brand name national and international restaurants, especially fast food and cafes.

“In total, since 2003 till now, thousands of Cambodian youths have gained knowledge, experience and a paycheck from CBM investment,” said Sokly. “Some of them have run their own businesses successfully; while some have become branch managers and five star hotel managers.”

Although, like much of Asia, Cambodia has been a country that preferred tea, the industry is still growing throughout the nation. With experience in food and beverage through their background in the globalization of Western food culture, Cambodian youths have been able to join the growing food industries in the Kingdom, according to Sokly.

“What CBM has invested in training and know-how for Cambodian youths for more than a decade now, is a key driver of accelerated development in the food industry in Cambodia,” said Sokly.

CBM Corporation is a leading foodservice company in Cambodia providing the best dining experiences by brands such as BBWorld, Pizza World, T&C, and the other international brands like, Tous Les Jours, Lotteria Burger, and Dominos.