Sprouting the Future
Did you know that each Pad Thai you order at The Coffee Club pays for English classes for hundreds of students?
The Coffee Club is part of Minor International, one of Thailand’s biggest companies, whose focus is mainly on hospitality. Minor’s sustainability framework comprises of many different aspects. By means of education, Minor aims to contribute to people development in Thailand. The Minor Sustainability Education Development initiative covers different steps in a Thai student’s development journey from early educational building blocks to starting their own careers. Programmes include Minor School Projects, that work with school kids throughout Thailand in several aspects like the Minor Book Club and Good Deeds in Your Birth Month. The Heinecke Foundation, one arm of Minor’s , offers scholarships to students in need.
Further down the road, the Minor Corporate University Programme where internship and training are offered to students in both vocational studies and universities. Opportunities extend to 1-2 year student trainee programmes where students can either work on a full-time or part-time basis. The growth in their careers does not stop there, doors are open at Minor for future industry leaders with programmes including Store Management, Chef Academy, Minor Hotel Explorer Programme and Area Coach University Programme. The Teacher Bean Sprouts project by The Coffee Club is one of the Minor school projects. Working with Wat Sao Thong Kao school in Ayutthaya and the local agricultural community in the neighbouring province Ang Thong, the aim of this initiative is to both foster better English education for students and to create a sustainable business that involves trustworthy local producers.
The cycle starts when the Ang Thong community teaches students how to grow beansprouts and maintain the quality up to The Coffee Club’s exacting standards. In turn, The Coffee Club places a fix order of 160kg a week for this producer and collects the order every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday . Being the refreshing and crunchy part of Pad Thai, fresh beansprouts contribute to countless plates of the renowned Thai dish. When customers taste our Pad Thai, they taste the well-rounded flavours that each ingredient offers. However, not only does it deliver a tasty meal, but knowing that each serving helps Thai kids learn better English is deeply satisfying for the soul.
The revenue from selling bean sprouts goes straight to hiring professional, high-quality English teachers for the students in Wat Sao Thong Kao school. Who would have thought that bean sprouts could pay for better education? Minor International strongly believes that by providing better teaching in English, they are also opening more doors of opportunities for the hard-working children in the future. The project was started in 2018 and, with its success, will be growing into more schools and local communities in Thailand. The way Minor International chose to give back to the society resonates with its sustainable philosophy: not only giving out money and stopping when it runs out, but creating ways for the students and schools to make their contribution to better education. So what about a delicious pad Thai on your next visit to The Coffee Club?
