Remastered: Vietnamese American Woman On A MISSION To Transform The Coffee Industry

“ Vietnam is the number two producer of coffee in the world, which blew my mind because I didn't know that as a Vietnamese American.” - Sarah Nguyen

Revisiting this conversation reminded me why I started this podcast—to amplify powerful stories, and Sarah Nguyen’s journey is nothing short of inspiring. Her passion for reshaping the global coffee industry, advocating for Vietnamese coffee farmers, and pushing for diversity and transparency is exactly the kind of discussion that makes podcasting so rewarding.

What stood out most was Sarah’s deep connection to her heritage and her unwavering commitment to redefining the perception of Vietnamese coffee in the U.S. She broke down long-held misconceptions about Robusta beans and exposed how "Vietnamese coffee" is often misrepresented in specialty cafés. But her mission extends beyond coffee—it’s about cultural preservation, economic empowerment, and challenging industry biases.

Beyond the coffee industry, we explored themes of identity, language, and the Asian American experience. Sarah’s openness about her family’s refugee journey and the broader challenges facing the AAPI community added an important layer of depth to our conversation. Whether you’re hearing it for the first time or revisiting it in this remastered edition, this episode remains just as powerful. From her surreal Drew Barrymore moment to her insights on sustainability and ethical sourcing, this conversation is packed with energy, authenticity, and game-changing ideas.

Key Takeaways:

1. Vietnam’s Coffee Industry is Vastly

7 Bridges Brewing Co. - An award winning Vietnamese craft brewery from Da Nang, with breweries across Vietnam!

Rabbit Hole Irish Sports Bar - Check out their new location on Tran Nao with the best views in the city over Landmark 81!

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Transcript

Sarah Nguyen: [00:00:00] Vietnam is the number two producer of coffee in the world, which blew my mind because I didn't know that as a Vietnamese American,

the specialty coffee industry in America was really built around this idea and this narrative of a hundred percent Arabica is superior.

Vietnam is instant coffee, Vietnam is cheap, Vietnam is robusta, which I really felt like was wrong and fucked up and it needed to change.   

Niall: Welcome to another episode of a Vietnam podcast with me, a host, Niall Mackay. I started this podcast in 2019 as a hobby because I was bold one day, and I loved living in Saigon, so it was called Seven Million Bikes, a Saigon podcast because there was Seven Million Bikes in Saigon at the time, and it eventually became a Vietnam podcast, and we now talk to people from all over the world, all over Vietnam.

All connected to Vietnam with a story to share, and even if it's my [00:01:00] own story, I first came here in 2015, came back in 2016 for six weeks, and that was it. I'm still here in 2025. I. I absolutely love this country, love this podcast, and I'm really proud to say that this show is now in the top 5% of podcast worldwide.

So thank you so, so much to you for listening. So today we're bringing back an old conversation that I think is just as valuable now as when it first came out. In this episode, I sat down with Sarah Ngu online during Covid Times, a Vietnamese American entrepreneur and the founder of N Coffee Supply.

It has been amazing seeing the transformation of this company over the years. She is on a mission to transform the coffee industry through diversity, inclusion, and transparency, and we talked about her journey, her passion for specialty Vietnamese coffee, and the impact of her work on both farmers. And consumers.

So whether you missed it the first time or you want to revisit this inspiring conversation, I'm sure you're gonna love it. So let's get [00:02:00] started. Cheers.  

Niall (2): Today we got a little bit of a different podcast. We're recording on Zoom, so hopefully the audio quality is still as good as what you're used to, but it might be a little bit different.  

Now, my guest today, she is on a mission to transform the coffee industry through diversity, inclusion, and transparency. And our company has been featured recently in the Wall Street Journal, vice New York Magazine, New York Times, Forbes, fortune, and was one of the 2019 star chefs. Rising stars though.

She's the founder and CEO of Wind Coffee Supply, which is America's first specialty Vietnamese coffee and importer and roaster, and has recently been on the Drew Barrymore TV show, which I'm excited to ask her about. Drew Barrymore and she's been on several other podcasts and Zoom panels talking about wind coffee supply, but also her activism and support of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, especially in the light of the recent violence towards this community, in America.  

So I'm excited to [00:03:00] introduce my guest today is Sarah Nen. 

Sarah Nguyen: Niall. Thank you so much for having me. 

Niall (2): Thank you for coming on. I've been very excited to talk to you since I saw that you did, an a MA, which is ask me anything for anyone who's not in the know on Reddit. How did that go? 

Sarah Nguyen: It was amazing.

So you were able to find, because the goal of doing. Is to find more community, with people all across the internet in the world. So That's so cool. 

Niall (2): Well, I'm always on the lookout for interesting, um, people to interview that are connected to Vietnam. So whether that's someone who's Vietnamese American or Vietnamese, German, Swiss, we've had accused from all over the world and within Vietnam on the show.

So as soon as I saw that and I read that, I was like, oh, and I reached out right away. And then I've been chatting to Alex, your communications guy, Which did he tell you about our crazy connection? 

Sarah Nguyen: No, he didn't tell me. 

Niall (2): So I, in, I sent, to you and him a couple of episodes from previous shows to check out that you might be [00:04:00] interested in, and one of them that I sent is from a girl called Lemon Tam.

a Houston based, Vietnamese American, but she lived here in Saigon for a while and started a a,closed door restaurant called Sista. Anyway, super interesting episode. I sent that to Alex and he replied back, I just had dinner with her last week.

Sarah Nguyen: That's amazing. What a small world, eh? 

Yeah. What a small world 

Niall (2): now. So one of the things, we've talked about on this season was the pronunciation of names and the meaning of names. and the common question I always get is, how do I say your name? And most people get it wrong. I've had people that have known me for years and still say my name wrong.

Now, I listened to one of your many videos, you did a Ted Top, which was fascinating. and it was like nails on a chalkboard when I listened to it because the first thing you said was New Wind coffee supply. 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah. 

Niall (2): What is the name of your coffee company and your [00:05:00] last name? 

Sarah Nguyen: So, my last name in Vietnamese with the diet critics is hu.

However, in English, English language does not have diet critics. So the sounds that exist in Vietnamese just literally don't exist in English. So the Anglicized versions of my last name, there are many versions and some people would say it's win. Some people would say it's million. Some people would say it's Lynn, my parents, let us say gin.

Right? and so it's interesting because when I first started the company and the time when you saw this TED talk, which is like at the very beginning days of the company, I entered the market saying million coffee supply because I didn't know if people who are non Vietnamese could handle. in my mind, I was trying to make it as ide as possible, but what's funny, Niall, is that over time, non Vietnamese Americans would come up to me and say, wait a minute, 

isn't it win? Like, and so that was, it's just a fascinating, I [00:06:00] guess like journey of how of the Vietnamese American experience in America really. And this a larger conversation about language linguistics and diet critics. So now I say win more commonly because I feel like that's the commonly accepted ango size version in mainstream America.  

However, my last name is Vietnamese is still William. 

Niall (2): And I make fun, but I've been here five years and I still can't say it properly. I try, but, 'cause the NG is like a, you gotta get it like the, and thenit's like sing, right? Like the best way is explained to me is think of sing, but take the sound at the end and put it at the beginning.  

For someone from Scotland, that's almost impossible to do. So. I'm probably still saying it wrong, and it's good to know that was an early Ted Talk, but yeah, when I did hear that, I was like, wait, what? 

Sarah Nguyen: Yes. So one of the things that I've learned about Vietnamese the language is that the NG is in the back of your throat, right?

So [00:07:00] I think when you think about where the sound comes from, it helps a lot. So the Ng Vietnamese is back of your throat, so you should feel it back there. Like, whereas the N in English is on the tip of your tongue, right? Like Nancy, right? So it's total opposites, really, which is why, when people always ask me, how do you say your last name in English?

You literally can't because they're just like, just different worlds, right? but yeah, so just aim for the back of your throat, Niall, and just go. 

Niall (2): What also made me laugh is last season we had a guest on which, and his last name was of course Ngu. And so in the UK he would pronounce it Nin up until then. Eventually he was 26 and I said to him, did your parents never correct you?

Like he said, well, now that I was brought up saying it like this, and so now he lives over here and similar experience. Then you have to start pronouncing it correctly. 

Sarah Nguyen: Literally grew up saying NuGen as well. And so I grew up saying NuGen throughout like, the eighties and nineties and even two thousands.  

and it's [00:08:00] interesting how like even with my own journey as a Vietnamese American, I've evolved with NuGen new and when, right. So I think it's all a story of like, like the diaspora in different social culture context. 

Niall (2): Yeah, for sure. And I,I can relate in a way, but probably not really, but my last name is Mackay, but it can be called Mackay.

Mackay. And you can get any different types of pronunciations. So, I'm very used to it as well. I get it every day and especially like with my first name as well, so I often get, uh, you know, you could be waiting for your name to be called out. It'll be N Mackay. And I'm like, oh, that's me.

Niall Mackay. Yeah, totally different. So where are your parents from in Vietnam? 

Sarah Nguyen: My dad is from Hanoi in the north, and my mom is originally from Onega. that's a hometown. It's like, which is more central. However, most of, like the family on my mom's side is now in Yan. 

Niall (2): Nice. Have you been there? 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah, I grew up, visiting, so [00:09:00] most of my family relatives are still in Vietnam.  

My parents are like one of eight siblings each, and so they were the only ones to escape the country. So I grew up with a really small family in the United States, like literally just my parents and my siblings. And so my whole extended family, my aunts, my uncles, all my cousins are still in Vietnam. So I was really fortunate as a young person to be able to go back and visit often.  

then as I got older, as an adult, I was able to kind of go back on my own. 

Niall (2): Now, I asked this question to nearly every guest that wasn't born in Vietnam and lived here the whole life. Do you speak Vietnamese?   

Sarah Nguyen: I do speak Vietnamese. it's, I speak and read and write in Vietnamese, which is, which helps me a lot in doing my current business.

Niall (2): That's good. Yeah, because often the, some of our guests we've had on, that I just interviewed was, he didn't learn ve he, his parents were Vietnamese in lotion, but he didn't learn Vietnamese until he moved here at like 30 years old, which was obviously a big challenge to learn Vietnamese at that age.

But he's almost fluent [00:10:00] now. 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah. 

Niall (2): It's a, I talk about this often and it's embarrassing. I've been here for five years now, and I like most expats that live here, I don't speak Vietnamese.

And as one of my, comedian friends does a joke about this recently, he's like, I think more expats would speak Vietnamese if it wasn't so difficult.  

Sarah Nguyen: Well, it's like Vietnamese, it's, it's a diet critics, right? It's atonal language. There are tones and sounds that just simply don't exist in other languages. So for that reason, and it is also like, you know, you, because of the tones and the, and the tones and like the different, accents.your tongue is the muscle, right?

There are muscles in your tongue, and so you have to have like flexed or trained your tongue to kind of like flex or speak in these different tones and accents. And so if you've literally like never worked that muscle, it's kind of like difficult to build up. Not impossible, but yet it doesn't to be a bit more challenging.

Niall (2): I did do some Vietnamese lessons when I first came here, and I remember after an hour of [00:11:00] lessons, like my jaw was in pain, my throat was in pain, and I just saw a friend post yesterday that he's restarted Vietnamese lessons and he's like, my mouth is in agony is really difficult. Yeah, 

Sarah Nguyen: that sounds about right.

Yeah.   

Niall (2): On the flip side, so I, I, I teach English here as well, and there's sounds in the English language that they don't have in Vietnam. So for example, the biggest example is the th sound, like the, which just doesn't exist. So trying to teach that to, to children. and again, like you're talking about, you have to get the tongue.

It's like put your tongue like, like.things like this. So, it goes both ways as well. I understand. And it's the same thing. Like they don't have that muscle memory of, it's funny, like with little kids you can, they're easier to learn because they don't have that. But with, especially for adults, when you teach them and you're like, no, put your tongue here and do this.  

They've never done it before, so it's so, so difficult. 

Sarah Nguyen: Right. Exactly. Yeah. 

Niall (2): So when did your parents leave Vietnam? 

Sarah Nguyen: They left [00:12:00] around 1978. 

Niall (2): And is that something we can talk about in more detail? 

Sarah Nguyen: Sure. As much as I know. 

Niall (2): I just wanna go back quickly 'cause we're gonna move on from talking in Vietnamese. One of One of the jokes that I tell on stage,often and that I learned this from my Vietnamese colleague, one of the reasons is like you say, the tones.

So you take the word NAM and you can change the inflection. And that three letter word can make seven different meanings. And so I will often get someone up on stage who can speak Vietnamese, who either an expat or a Vietnamese local and say this sentence. So I'm gonna get you to say this sentence.

Okay. I've had previous guests do this. 

Sarah Nguyen: Sure. 

Niall (2): I've, the, my last guest that did it was a French Russian guru who speaks fluent Vietnamese. The one before that was Nigerian who speaks fluent Vietnamese. So, let's see if, we're gonna test your Vietnamese. Okay. 

Sarah Nguyen: Okay. Sure. 

Niall (2): Okay. The sentence is nonsensical.

This is the sentence in English. I lay [00:13:00] with a man called Nam holding five mushrooms for five years.

 As a non Vietnamese speaker. I don't, it is so difficult to hear the seven different tones of Nam there.

Sarah Nguyen: yeah. I, that was a good one. I've never done that one. 

Niall (2): Can you give me it one more time, but faster? I lay in bed with a man called Nam holding five mushrooms for five years.   

Sarah Nguyen: So namm, that was like a tongue twister.

Niall (2): I love watching your face doing this as well, because you're like, thinking about the tone on each one. I can what you call like, is it up? Is it down? Is it flat? 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah, I definitely can't do it really fast because I get tongue twister, so it's visualize it. 

Niall (2): So tell me then about your parents left Vietnam. [00:14:00] when did they leave Vietnam and what brought them to America? 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah, so my parents, it was like sure after the war ended and, it was a really difficult time.

Both my parents, and their families and my parents' families were just struggling. Like no one had any work. People didn't have enough to eat. They were eating like rice and mixing potatoes with their rice to try to extend it. It was just difficult time. And I guess for my parents' generation there was like all this talk about freedom and like, you know, opportunity in America and just like getting out of this country.  

And so, and my parents are from the north slash south slash central South, so they didn't know each other at that time. Right. But their journeys are really similar where they. Both decided that they each would leave the country, or escape from the country, and it both took them several attempts before they were actually successful.  

But long story short, they were successful. They got on a boat, they were at sea for a few months, and then they actually, [00:15:00] coincidentally, both ended up in a refugee camp in Hong Kong where they stayed for a few years, or 1.5 to two years each. And then they still didn't meet each other at the time. And then eventually they were both sponsored, to come to Boston, Massachusetts, and that's where they settled and met each other. 

Niall (2): Awesome. It's a topic that's come up quite a lot recently on the podcast. We've talked about, obviously a lot of people share similar experiences to your parents and to yourself. As I said, we've interviewed over the last couple of seasons, Swiss Vietnamese,  German, Vietnamese, all with similar backgrounds.  

And, one thing I've mentioned, I don't know, have you listened to the Vietnamese Boat People podcast? 

Sarah Nguyen: Yep. Yes, I have. 

Niall (2): So I keep mentioning that because I want people to go and listen to it. I've not, it's a lot of episodes now, but I have listened to quite a few of the ones in the beginning and I've read some books on it as well.

And it's just something that's so harrowing and so shocking to read about. And, meeting people like yourself always is. Heartening to see, because you can see what the [00:16:00] positive, outcomes can be for people, for your family, and like yourself. And then it obviously really brings it home when you read about refugees today.

And it, it hurts me when you think about how terrible refugees are treated, worldwide, you know, in my country and in America, or not maybe treated, but ignored or not let in. And you're just like, how are we not learning from the past? Like, we know that these horrible things happened before, and we know the amazing things that can happen from letting refugees in.  

I don't understand why we still can't, be accepting of people that are fleeing basically horrible situations. And in the UK we have some horrible people like Katie Price, who've said some horrible, disgusting things about not letting refugees in and things like that.

People fleeing war and persecution and you're like, why would you not want to accept these people in that are fleeing. Fleeing the country. So I diver,I'm going on a tangent, but, I have reached out to Tracy Nen from the Vietnamese boat people. I'm waiting to hear back, so I really would love to get her on the show soon.

[00:17:00] So, Tracy, I said this on the last episode. If you're listening, get in touch 'cause we wanna put you on. 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah. Tracy is great. we worked with her recently on an April 30th social media storytelling campaign. yeah, it's, capturing the stories of my parents' generation and the generation of people who lived through the war in Vietnam and escaped the country and came to the US or really settled in any country around the world is such a unique and powerful experience that.  

It's so important for the whole world. Like, as you mentioned, there's so many takeaways from there. And at the same time, it's also a very difficult conversation to have. many people who had lived those experiences, they don't wanna talk about it and they don't wanna relive it yet, folks of, like my generation, we wanna capture it so much, we wanna like learn from it and just like know everything we can.

And [00:18:00] so it's kind of like this really odd tension of wanting to preserve, the ne the legacy of our community through these lived experiences, stories, and also wanna respect the people who maybe just don't wanna talk about it because it was so traumatic, So it's a constant tension and battle, I think for my community.

and very grateful to people like Tracy. At Beauty Vietnamese Useful people podcasts, we're able to capture at least a good chunk of it.   

Niall (2): Yeah, it's something I've definitely learned from talking to so many people on the podcast that most parents don't talk about it, which makes complete sense. Why would you want to talk about this harrowing experience?

but I think as well then, like you mentioned as well, then the children, they wanna know and connect with their roots and find out, what exactly happened. So yeah, I do think it's good that Tracy is making that podcast and sharing those stories. it's kind of why I asked that question as well.

Some people are comfortable talking about [00:19:00] it, some not. But even here in Vietnam, we've interviewed someone on the podcast, someone who's a friend of mine who, his father fought in the war, but he would never talk to him about it. it's not something that you grow up and your dad sits you around and be like, right, I'm gonna tell you a war story.

He said that most of his, awareness of his dad being in the war was just overhearing his dad talking about it with friends while they're drinking beer. So, which, makes sense. Now, let's move on a little bit I've been very excited to talk to you about coffee, if anyone is watching on Zoom, I'm drinking my morning coffee.

This is one of the earliest podcasts I've ever done. So, Sarah is in, you're in Brooklyn, right? 

Sarah Nguyen: Yes, correct. 

Niall (2): So Sarah's in Brooklyn, New York at the moment. It's Monday evening late. So it's the latest interview that she's ever done and the earliest one for me. So we're dealing with the time difference.  

So I'm starting my day with a coffee. You'll be able to see me drinking it if you're watching on the Zoom. I'm a massive coffee fan, so I've been very excited to [00:20:00] talk to you about it. But the first question I wanna ask you about is you went on the Drew Barry Mall show. How was that? 

Sarah Nguyen: It was so surreal, Niall.

It was crazy. Let me tell you about it because drew Barrymore is an icon. She is a living legend and not just like an icon in Hollywood, but she is, she's been a constant presence in my family, in my entire life, right? So my parents came to Boston. In like 1981 ET came out in 1982.

We all watched ET as a family. And then we re-watched it, over like, the VCR, the cassette tape, like over, across the years, right? Throughout the eighties. So we've, we grew up with you very more. And then, like my mom, I mean, she loves comedy. She loves romantic comedy. 'cause it's kind of a way for her to like, feel good and happy after everything she's experienced.

So [00:21:00] she loves all of Drew Barry Moore's movies. She can't stop talking about 51st dates with her and Adam Sandler. You know, it's one of my favorite 

Niall (2): movies. 

Sarah Nguyen: That's one of my movies too. She always talks about her and Adam Sandler in that movie. Um, Charlie's Angels, for me and my fa my parents and my sisters who are like, we're all, we're three girls, three women now.  

We really grew up with you, Barry Moore. You know, and we're not, I'm not just saying that, but like, it was such like.a moment of escapism and joy for my parents and my family and like so many family moments that were shared over a Drew Barrymore film. And so it was really crazy for me, and it was actually really crazy for my parents who just viewed Drew Barrymore as like this iconic American star that they grew up with in America, And so to be invited to a show and, the way it happened was through a total inbound and associate producer DMed me on Instagram. I'm not paying for PR right now. So someone literally reached out over [00:22:00] Instagram on a Wednesday, we zoomed on a Thursday, and then I was filming on a Tuesday, right?

It happened so fast and it was really organic. And when I met Drew, she was so freaking sweet and just like so down to earth and a very, very thoughtful and intentional and. Socially aware person. you could tell that she was really genuine about wanting to have me on the show. She, like, before we started filming, it was like around March, there's a lot of like violence around, you know, a APIs and against Asian elders being reported in the news constantly.  

Before we even started filming, she like checked in with me and was like, Hey, like do you wanna talk about the violence that's happening? Or, well, you know, against the API community right now? Or do you wanna just talk about your experience as an entrepreneur? She was like, we don't wanna force you to talk about this and we don't want you to feel like you're only here to talk about that.

Talk about whatever you wanna talk about and however you wanna represent yourself on the show. [00:23:00] like, and I thought that was really cool of her, And, Of course, I was like, I definitely wanna talk about what's happening because it's very important to me and it's very important that we use the platform to amplify it.  

But overall, that we had so much fun together. And then, I don't know if you saw it, but she actually brought me back for a second time. 

Niall (2): No, I haven't seen that one yet. 

Sarah Nguyen: She brought me back, for a second time in May. So like the first time was March, then like they invited me back in May and that in itself we used to, the second segment was like a coffee and cooking segment.

And that in itself says a lot about her and her team of like, it wasn't just a one off moment. It was like, let's bring Sarah back. Let's like extend this moment. Let's like, build a relationship. I really just appreciate a level of allyship. 'cause I'll tell you, Niall, I've had another, daytime television show, under the name of a pop star, and her team reached out to me.  

Invited me to be in the show after the Drew Barrymore and like, oh yeah, we do a program to support Asian Americans to support like, anti-Asian violence. And then they were like, [00:24:00] but you have to pay $10,000 to be in the show, right? Yeah. And I was like, okay, this is not how you go about this. It is not my responsibility as an Asian American woman and the Asian owned business who donate $10,000 to fight anti-Asian violence.

Like you should be donating $10,000. But the point here with the story is, drew er was really great experience. being the show twice, in, in like three months was wonderful. And, a really big moment for my parents. And I would say just for representation in general of my community. 

Niall (2): That is amazing.

Were you, completely fangirling the whole time or did you keep it together? Were you like, cool, were you like, how were you like, what do I do? How do I act?   

Sarah Nguyen: No way. I was, I could not, you cannot keep it cool around Drew Barry more like, I was totally fangirling, my heart was racing. I was like so nervous, 

I was freaking out. I mean, she's a fucking icon, even the second time I was like more nervous the second time for some reason. Um, you know, it's funny, my mom, so the second time we were filming, it was on a Wednesday, and on the [00:25:00] Sunday, prior to that Wednesday, I was visiting my mom in Boston.  

We were grilling and we made Mo No, right? grilled barbecue, grilled pork belly, that favorite. And then my mom. It's so good, right? And my mom was like, can you bring this to Drew? So she packed like a serving and a Tupperware of like boots. And she likeput a piece of tape on it and she wrote Drew Barrymore's name on it and she was like, and she also packed like a bag of toothpicks in there for her crew to like have samples.  

She's like, can you bring it to Drew? I'm like, sure. I'm like, listen, I don't know what her dietary restrictions are. No problems this, but I'll bring it. So on the day filming, I brought it and then Drew, I ran to Drew in the hallway. We were super excited to see each other. She gave me a hug. I was like, by the way, drew, my mom brought you some moon te and some toothpicks for the crew.

No pressure, but if you wanna try it, it's here. She was so excited and if you watch a second segment, she actually mentioned my mom's. Show. She's like, Sarah's mom brought us her famous pork. And I was [00:26:00] like, ah. Like my mom was just, I can't imagine my mom is like being recognized as the Drew Barrymore show for her cooking.

It was insane. 

Niall (2): it's wild. Amazing. So the next segment needs to have your mum on the show. 

Sarah Nguyen: Totally. 

Niall (2): She would kill it. You have to suggest Now, one of the things that, made me laugh so much, so I watched the segment and so I know the job of a TV presenter is to be excited about things. And I'm sure Drew Barrymore is naturally a very excitable person, but her excitement about Finn Coffee made me laugh so much.

I was like, how can you get, but because I know it's for tv, so we, my wife is from America and we went back there. A few years ago, and we took Finn Coffee with us. We took condensed milk, we took Vietnamese coffee beans, and we were traveling around Texas visiting our family. And everywhere we went, every morning I was like, right [00:27:00] guys, you've gotta try Vietnamese coffee.

It's the best coffee in the world. And like Drew bmo, she had that sip and she's like, oh my goodness. Vietnamese coffee is rocket fuel. My friends just started a satirical website and he just posted, an article this week that made me laugh so hard. It was like, Irishman finally falls asleep five years after having a Vietnamese coffee. 

I'll send it to you. And, but Drew Barrymore's enthusiasm and excitement. I'm sure it was genuine, but it just seemed so fake for TV because I went around America pouring people thin coffee and every time I did it, they were like, oh yeah, cool. 

Sarah Nguyen: Well, Niall, I gotta be honest. Were you serving, what coffee were you serving on?

Because Drew, er, she was drinking my coffee with 

Niall (2): supply. 

Sarah Nguyen: So let's not discredit her reaction. It wasn't just the thin coffee, it was specifically wind, coffee supply. Coffee beans. Okay. 

Niall (2): No, it was more,just the fact [00:28:00] when you like put it in the fin, he's like, oh my god. Wow. And I'm like, okay. But I'm a bit cynical because I'm like, I live here in Vietnam.

So for me, that's just like, like that's how I make my coffee every day. So it's not like this amazing experience. So I did think it was really cool, and it was really cute that she got so excited about something that for me, even as a Westerner, I'm like, yeah, it's coffee. That's how you, yeah,

Sarah Nguyen: but Niall, that's the, it's all like social context, right?

Societal context, like the fin filter is not new. It's been around for like decades. And like you mentioned, for you and many people in Vietnam, it's a daily experience. But for many people in the US they have never heard of it. They've never seen it, they've never experienced it. And I'm not surprised that she was so amazed because Afin is an amazing brew tool.

Like it's small, it's compact. Um, there's nopaper waste. It's super easy to use. It brews a perfect concentrated [00:29:00] cup in five minutes. Like it's an incredible brew tool that just has not gone a lot of love outside of Vietnam. So, and I think that just kind of speaks this larger thing of like. Just like social culture context, like what's new to what's not new to one person can be like brand new to another person.  

And I think that is the beauty of where we have more, you know, diversity and consumer experiences. We're able to share things like I'm not new to the theme filter. I'm, I grew up with it, right? But now through my mission and through Win Coffee supply, I'm sharing it with like most of Americans and most of mainstream Americans.

They're like, did you invent this? This is amazing, right? Literally people are like, did you invent this tool? I'm like, I did not invent it. It's been around for generations, but it's just like, it takes a certain experience and a certain person, a certain entrepreneur, certain like, lived experiences, share something culturally different.  

And I think that is where so much beauty lies of where we can share, different culture experiences and really have a connection together. 

Niall (2): No, I'm just making [00:30:00] fun of her. It was, I thought it was really cute, but I also was like. Wow. I've never seen anyone so excited over a fiend coffee before. 

Sarah Nguyen: You've been Vietnam for too long.

That's why 

Niall (2): I'm 100%. Yeah, I've been here too long. That's what I'm saying. I'm a little bit like, meh, it's coffee. But I did do it. I took it all around America. We literally brought, it wasn't your beans, but it was Vietnamese coffee beans. I brought condensed milk, I brought Afin. We were going all around Texas to different families and we're like, right, let me meet you.

This coffee. Everyone loved it, but I never saw anyone get as excited as Drew Barrymore about it.   

Sarah Nguyen: Next, have you do your family tour? Bring still wind, coffee, supply beans. Okay. 

Niall (2): I will do. I will do, definitely. So let's talk more about coffee because um. I've been very, I don't wanna put down all my other guests, but this is one of the most exci I've been the most excited I've been to talk to someone for a podcast, because I feel like I, there's a lot of topics that I want to talk about and one of them is coffee.

So as you can tell, I've already had my morning coffee, so I'm starting to get more excited now. and it is one of my biggest passions. Now, as I was reading more [00:31:00] about Wind Coffee Supply and your mission, one of the things that broke my heart was reading about in America. I didn't know this, that it's marketed, it's like a buzzword to sell Vietnamese coffee, but it's not Vietnamese coffee.

And, so tell, explain to the listeners more about that and then how that's driven your mission to, to highlight, Vietnamese coffee. 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah, absolutely. You know, around 2016, I think Vietnamese food. Culture was really having an emergence and a big moment in mainstream America, um, similar to how like, Chinese food is really popularly known.

And then it was like, Japanese food and Thai food and like Vietnamese food was kind of like being discovered by like non Vietnamese people in America. And on a similar wavelength meal. I noticed that when I would go into these different specialty coffee shops and these kitchen cafes, they started throwing up Vietnamese iced coffee on the menu.  

And initially I was like, oh, this is cool. This is a moment, this is the culture moment. Vietnamese iced coffee is getting recognition on these menus, right? [00:32:00] But then every time I would try the Vietnamese iced coffee meal and it never tasted like Vietnam's coffee. Um, because, you know,Vietnam Robusta coffee being is really a big part of Vietnam's coffee culture.

Yes, Arabica is growing, but know, historically robusta is a big part of vi's coffee culture. And I would always ask the barista at these cafes, what's in your Vietnam's iced coffee? And they would say, oh, it's a house espresso or a house cold brew. That's from Ethiopia or from Brazil, or from Columbia or from any country, you know, from Africa or South America.

That was more in the specialty coffee scene at the time. And so I felt like this was really problematic for so many reasons. One, it's just pure false advertising and miseducation for consumers because famous coffee has a very distinct taste, right? Arabic and robust beans are pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum.  

Two, it renders the actual producers of the coffee invisible, like the Ethiopian coffee, farmers or the Brazilian coffee farmers just call it Ethiopian coffee with [00:33:00] sweetened condensed milk, right? Like, let's do justice to the actual producers here. Three. What we're seeing is, a group of people and businesses who wanna profit off of the cultural cachet of a Vietnamese iced coffee concept.  

But yet the producers and the creators of this cultural product and this concept being Vietnamese people and producers and farmers we're not benefiting at all from this transaction. Right. Which is probably the biggest problem to me. And so from there, I just started looking into it more and like, why are they using real ese coffee beans?  

And that's when I realized that the specialty coffee industry in America was really built around this idea and this narrative of a hundred percent Arabica is superior. And at the same time, they built this narrative explicitly, saying that Vietnamese coffee is cheap, robust, the coffee is inferior, and that they don't really belong in specialty coffee culture.

Right. Which I found to be very problematic because these are [00:34:00] ultimately all social constructs. Right. In my research, I discovered that Vietnam is the number two producer of coffee in the world, which blew my mind because I didn't know that as a Vietnamese American, because originally I was like, well, maybe Vietnam is not involved in specialty coffee because they don't make coffee.

Like maybe there's just no source there, right? But no, Vietnam is the number two producer of coffee in the world, and the fact that I didn't know that Niall, for me screams lack of transparency, lack of visibility, and lack of representation. When we have non-transparent supply chains in any food industry, be it seafood or coffee, most often not, it means that there's an exploitative labor cycle at the end of that, right?  

Because when people don't have visibility or representation, they can't properly advocate for themselves, right? So for me, at Vietnamese American, I felt like there was a huge injustice happening to Vietnamese people and producers. They have contributed largely to coffee experiences around the world.

They touch lives around the [00:35:00] world, and there's a huge missed opportunity, not just for coffee farming, but also for culture connection of like, oh, my coffee is made by a baby's person. Like, that's pretty cool, right? So with that in mind, I really want to change all of this, right? Because specialty coffee, as it exists today, Niall, is not just something that we drink.

Specialty coffee didn't just grow out of the ground on its own specialty. Coffee is a collective investment from people all along the supply chain to build a more sustainable and equitable world, right? It requires producers and buyers working with farmers and saying, Hey, did you know that if you use these organic practices and these all natural bio fertilizers, and you handpick just the ripe cherries, instead of grabbing all the ripe and unripe cherries, you get a better product.

If you get a better harvest, you can sell it for a higher price, and then the buyer sells it to the roaster and says, this is a single origin X, Y, Z. It's 90% handpicked red cherries. If X, y, Z process, the roasters buy for a price, right? The roasters sell it to the [00:36:00] baristas. The baristas are educating consumers, Hey, this cup of coffee is a single orange X, Y, Z.

It's $6 instead of $3, right? It is really a collective investment from people all along the supply chain and. But when it came to Vietnam meal, people were not willing to apply those values or that investment to Vietnam. They were just right on Vietnam saying Vietnam doesn't count. Vietnam is instant coffee, Vietnam is cheap, Vietnam is robusta, which I really felt like was wrong and fucked up and it needed to change.

So that's where I stepped in and I said, well, I wanna change this because if Vietnam is the number two producer of Coffee in the world, that means the product is already there. We have a huge opportunity to improve the lives of farmers all across the country and improve agriculture sustainability simply by making the product that's already there better, right?

We could change so many lives and change the landscape by just making what's there better. And it just requires someone to come in and just look at it a [00:37:00] different way. And so that's where, when coffee supply was born, and that's what we're trying to do. 

Niall (2): I love your enthusiasm and passion. It's awesome.  

I can see you getting more excited as we're talking about it, which is cool. Isaac, again, as someone who lives here and loves the coffee, even just recently when we went up to Dong Nai in d la and you drive through, and for people who don't live here or haven't been here, like there's literally just coffee beans everywhere, like by the side of the road just sitting there drying.

It's like there's so much coffee beans. They're not like locked up or anything like that. They just sit there by the side of the road. Right. It's crazy. One of the questions I wanted to ask you, and I wondered if this was a challenge for you, is, convincing people of the quality and the safety of the beans.

Because for us, when we first came to Vietnam five years ago, the first thing that people told us when we would get a coffee from like the street coffee would be, oh, better be careful because there's a lot of fake coffee out there. and you can do Google. You can Google it and find it. I mean, even. [00:38:00] I don't know if you were aware of this story.

It was about two, maybe three years ago. They found out that someone was selling coffee here in Vietnam, I think for the local market, not export. And it was using a reused batteries within the coffee. and that when we first came here five years ago, there was, somebody did a test of like coffee sold on the street and a huge percentage, and I can't remember off the top of my head, but a large number was fake coffee was they were doing roasted soybeans, which is actually carcinogenic and unsafe.  

And so from that perspective, is that then difficult to then explain if any, I don't know if anyone in America would be aware of that, but if they're so, convinced of ar arabica and things like that to them be like, Hey, do you wanna try these Vietnamese robusta coffee beans? Is anyone like, oh, I'm not sure about that.

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah. Yeah, great question. because those, those are everything that you described, Niall, those are truths, right? And those are realities, right? And that is part of the reality that we live in with this coffee [00:39:00] industry. and so I'm not dismissing that those things exist. I'm just saying that it can change, right?

with the willingness from people all along the supply chain. but to your question of like, was it hard to convince people? To be honest, it wasn't really because, I think a lot of those ideas weren't really existing in American consumers minds. I think they existed a lot in industry folks, right?

The people who may work in the coffee industry, but the people who I were interacting with directly, like. They drink the coffee, taste the coffee. They like her, they don't like it, right? But because of these things, Niall and my desire to reframe the narrative and show that Vietnamese coffee can produce specialty coffee if we work together, that is why I decided to import green beans in Roast and Brooklyn, New York, right?  

Because I wanted to align myself with how the specialty coffee industry in the United States was producing products, right? So, 'cause I had an opportunity to, fully roast and package in [00:40:00] Vietnam, right? and the cost are different there, but me, myself personally, I wanted to be able to offer, craft roasted, small batch roasted, roasted on the pro bat, manually roasted on the lowering, roasted locally, roasted weekly, right?  

Because it would communicate specialty, it would communicate quality. And also for me, myself as as an entrepreneur and as a founder of the company, I want to make sure that I could touch the product and, attest to the quality of the product by literally seeing the green beans before we roasted it, right?  

so that is in terms of how we are developing our product in the supply chain, meaning importing greens in real estate Brooklyn, that is how we are, assuring the quality of our beans. and otherwise, this pattern of like cheap coffee products that are in the market that is going to exist.  

For as long as we allow it to. Right. And until people say, Hey, we want a more sustainable Vietnamese coffee products, it's not [00:41:00] gonna put any pressure on corporations or conglomerates or producers and farmers to change their ways. Right. And for example, I don't know you saw recently, but you know, Kieran, this big company in Japan, it was just announced that Kieran is now investing in sustainable coffee farming in Vietnam because they're receiving pressure from their consumers for more sustainable coffee products.  

And the more we can change the perceptions of Americans here from just dismissing Vietnam is like they're cheap, they're instant. If we keep perpetuating that narrative, then that's all Vietnamese producers can participate in. Right? That's the o they will, that will be the only, the bot. They will only, that would be the only opportunity they have to produce and sell their product into that market.  

But we can change our perception of being like, sure, green Vietnamese coffee has entered cheap and instant. But you know what? We want sustainable, single origin, organic Vietnamese coffee products. Where can we get that? Where can we see that? Right? All of a sudden we have massive green bean buyers [00:42:00] talking to Vietnamese producers.  

We have Vietnamese producer growers learning about how to produce IC coffee. We have Vietnamese farmers producers learning about 80 points, 90 points, 95 points about handpicking, about, all these things, right? So it's all a collective investment. but that was a long way of saying like, yes, no, not really.

And it takes effort and willingness for everyone to change an old system. 

Niall (2): That's really exciting. I'd love it if I go back to America when post pandemic, when travel is allowed and suddenly you can see, good Vietnamese coffee everywhere. That would be super exciting. and be like a new thing, but not like a fake thing, like a buzzword, like Vietnamese coffee.

Like I said to my friend about,the problem of just adding condensed milk, and he said, the first thing he said is like, but in Spain they add condensed milk to coffee. It's not Vietnamese. Just by adding condensed milk, 

Sarah Nguyen: Exactly. I wanna add that because that's actually a narrative that we try to challenge as [00:43:00] well here.

That Vietnamese coffee is not synonymous with Vietnamese coffee is not synonymous with sweet condensed milk. 'cause there are many cultures around the world that also knew sweet condensed milk. Like Spain, the Cafe Bombon, right? In Thailand, they all set sweet against milk. So it's not right to just reduce Vietnamese coffee to sweeten against milk because we don't reduce Ethiopian coffee.

Brazilian coffee, or Colombian coffee to anything Vietnamese coffee should be allowed to be. Coffee beans, and they should be allowed to exist in all their versatility, whether it's through the theme filter or the chemist, or the por or espresso with oat milk, with almond milk, with cream and sugar or sweet and dense milk.

Right? So our, our work, part of our work is also expanding this narrative of what is Vietnamese coffee and what can it be, right? and I wanna add something to Niall, add something, to what you said early Niall about if you came in Vietnam. I mean, if you came to the United States and seen quality Vietnamese coffee.  

I wanna share with you some really cool facts about some things that we've been tracking here on our [00:44:00] side about the rise of Vietnam coffee in the United States.for starters, we've received, over 500 plus inbounds to serve our coffee, at different businesses around the country. So, or 500 plus inbounds since 2019.

That speaks to the interest and the awareness and the demand for Vietnamese coffee. I received, I can't remember this number, but you know, countless inbounds about selling Vietnamese green beans, right? Like from roasters and other cafes, or do you sell your green beans because people now wanna roast vi Vietnamese coffee, but they don't quite have the access yet because it's being developed.

Right. Vietnamese cafe openings around the country, from what we've been tracking, Niall, is growing, up to 1100% year over year. and that's from the cafes that we tracked alone. But also, I don't know if you saw this, but King Coffee, which is a Vietnamese, franchise, recently opened their very first cafe in Anaheim, California.

They've announced 20 new stores for 2021 and they've announced a [00:45:00] hundred new stores by franchise by 2022. So there is a wave of Vietnamese cafes and Vietnamese coffee culture happening in the United States, and it's happening right now. Right. and with all of this awareness and this appreciation for not just the coffee or the swing that's built, but also for the culture that's gonna dramatically impact the industry abroad as well.

Niall (2): Wow. That's crazy. Well, I,I'm hoping then I will see the difference when I come back. But now, you know what's gonna happen when I have a Vietnamese coffee, when I go back to the States, I'm gonna be like, right, is this really a Vietnamese coffee? I'm gonna be asking 'em be like, what beans is this? Is this Vietnamese?

Or is it Ethiopian

now to bring it back to Vietnam? Something that, I don't know how much you are aware of this. and I am, I. I, I am a coffee snob, not in the that like, I want Chemex or pour over or whatnot. I just, I know what I like and I want what I like. Okay. And I like my Vietnamese coffee and I do like Arabic as well, and I like a cappuccino, but I like [00:46:00] them, in their own right.

One of the things that's become really common in Saigon over the last five years, when I first got here, five years non-existent. Now it's really common. They're doing what you're describing, but they're doing it here in Saigon. So espresso machines have proliferated roadside espresso machines, like literally, I don't know how much they cost, but you buy an espresso machine, you put it on the side of the road and you start selling coffee, but they will sell you a Vietnamese coffee.

So I'll go and ask for a cafe it, and then this happened to me just a couple of weeks ago. Then I hear the coffee machine go, and I went straight up to the counter and I was like, oh. In my broken Vietnamese, I was like, is this the cafe Suah? And they're like, yeah. And I'm like,no. I just give me an Es, just make that an espresso.

Then I will not buy,one of my biggest pet peeves is if they try and serve you A cafe suah made from an espresso machine. I'm like, no. A cafe suah is made in Afin. That's an espresso. 

Sarah Nguyen: I have to correct you. Niall Cafe [00:47:00] Suda is coffee with milk and ice. No, I know that. So technically it could be espresso coffee with milk and ice.

Well, you really want is Cafe Fin 

Niall (2): Cafe. Yeah. I mean, I know the translation. But I mean, like for me, if I'm asking for a Cafe Sada, it's a Vietnamese fin coffee with condensed milk and ice. 

Sarah Nguyen: I know what you mean though. I totally get it because when I was in the last time I was in Vietnam in 2019, I was also experiencing the growth of espresso machines.

And so many places I would go to, I'd be like, and they would pull espresso shot at low dense milk and ice. And I was like, and being American is missing, I'm like, I don't have the feed experience, but that was too fast for me. Right. So I definitely had my own moments where I was like, wait, where's the feed?

You're evolving? No. but I get it, like it's so much more economical and fast for them to produce that, 

Niall (2): that's what it is. Right? It's ba so like you [00:48:00] can make it an espresso instantly, but the thing takes like a few minutes. But that's what I'll wait. This is Vietnam. We can be a bit slower.

We can, I wanna enjoy my coffee. So, for me, that's a massive pet peeve. If I hear that machine going, I am up, and I'm like, and I know what coffee shops. See, I think they should market it as espresso ada, not cafe Ada. I think it should be two product and then, if it's espresso ada, it's an espresso with condensed milk versus Cafe Suada.

Sarah Nguyen: This is fascinating because this is kind of like. The intersections of culture. Right. And it's like, because Vietnam is very, especially Saigon is a very transient city right now. So we're having like this really interesting moment in time where there's so much like collision and intersection of culture.

So I agree we need some standardized language of like cafe, fat espresso or cafe, like he need to say like cafe and in the brew afterwards. So people like are on the same page. 

Niall (2): Yeah, [00:49:00] absolutely. Now you see why I didn't start our podcast talking about coffee, because I knew if I did that then we wouldn't talk about anything else.

That was definitely on purpose because, I wanted to ask you more questions than just about coffee. So, we'll move on because, uh, we could talk all day about this and I can see you're getting more excited and more passionate as we're talking and. I've run out of my coffee, so I'm gonna need to go and make another one soon.  

we finished the podcast with the same questions every episode. Right. And right now the questions, the first question, I'm interested to hear your answer because you obviously live in New York, not Saigon. And this question is inspired by Saigon that, as the wealth has increased here, the amount of, luxurious cars has increased exponentially as well.

So it's normal to walk down the street and see a Bentley or a Mercedes or a Lamborghini or a post, but at the same time,the paint work doesn't match the class of the car. look, I'll just be honest, some horrendous cars. And, the best example that I give to people is recently there was a [00:50:00] bedazzled Mercedes where the whole Mercedes was decked out in silver glitter.

being in New York, do you have a similar, or even when you've been to Vietnam, what's the craziest car that you've seen?

Sarah Nguyen: I feel like Saigon has more extravagant car, extravagant cars than New York City. Because I was thinking about this question earlier and I was like, the cars here are boring as fuck.

Like the only thing I could think about would be like. Graffiti trucks, but really actually, because New York has like, really, bad, potholes. The streets here are really like poorly, constructed and like not taking care of their potholes everywhere. they're like bumps everywhere.

So I feel like there aren't really nice cars. Least I haven't seen any. Also, New York City is a very, train centric city, right? So I feel like there, I have not seen any nice cars here. I myself drive a Toyota Camry like super basic,so I, I cannot recall an interesting, a nice car here recently.

Niall (2): I [00:51:00] thought that may be a bit of a more difficult question for you. This one may be easier. Have you tried Duren? I.

Sarah Nguyen: I actually haven't tried durian. My mom loves it so much and it's, I've always been around it, but I've actually never tried it. Isn't that 

Niall (2): what you're the first that's answered? No. To that question.  

Sarah Nguyen: I dunno. Why idea, why? Yeah. I have not interested. What's 

Niall (2): your mom's name?

Ni. 

Sarah Nguyen: N-H-I-N-I-N-I 

Niall (2): ni make sure that Sarah tries some durian soon. Okay. 'cause we're gonna come back and find out whether you like it or not. 

Sarah Nguyen: You know what? I should try it next time. My mom's eating it. I'll try it 

Niall (2): as I'm sure it's available in, you can get it in some specialties, supermarkets and things like that.

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah. Seasonally we can get here. 

Niall (2): Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so moving on. So what's something that happens in America that would look strange in Vietnam? 

Sarah Nguyen: I think when people have hamster pets here.   

Niall (2): Wait, what? 

Sarah Nguyen: People [00:52:00] who keep hamsters as pets here. 

Niall (2): Oh, I thought you meant like took them out for walks. 

Sarah Nguyen: Oh,no. I think just keeping hamsters as pets in America, I think that's odd.

I think they'd be odd in Vietnam because they're all like rats really. Like I know in a social con context in America, like hamsters are cute, but really they're kind of like rats, And so I think in Vietnam that would seem weird because the concept of having dogs and cats as pets is kind of more of like a recent thing.

I feel so hamster. Yeah. That was 

Niall (2): the most unexpected answer that I would've expected. And hamster. Yeah. I mean, did they, did, do people in Vietnam not keep like rodents in cages? 'cause that is quite normal, even from Scotland. Like my first pet was a hamster. People have Guinea pigs. People don't have that in Vietnam.

Sarah Nguyen: No, they, they're not keeping rodents and cages as pets in Vietnam. They barely just started keeping dogs and cats as pets, 

Niall (2): which, yeah, that's very true as well. Yeah, that's like having a household pet is quite a new thing. Right. So conversely, what's something that [00:53:00] happens in Vietnam that would be looked at strangely in America?

Sarah Nguyen: I feel like, I don't know if this is something that happened, so it's more of like the first thing that came to mind were like the toilets in the ground, like we to stand where it's like literally on the, it's a hole in the ground. You to squat on top instead of like, a toilet. I been, I'm in, in so many parts of it now where like that's just a situation.

so I think that's something if you never experienced a non situation where we're just literally a hole in the ground, you gotta kinda like squat into like, that's kind of like probably something new to get used to. 

Niall (2): Yeah, I mean when I first came to Southeast Asia in general, that was one of my biggest feels and was worries and even.

Now if you travel outside of Saigon or depending where you go, before you open the door of a bathroom, there's that intrepidation of like, what kind of toilet is it gonna be? More often than not in Vietnam, it is a porcelain toilet bowl. But, when you travel, like I was in Myanmar a [00:54:00] couple of years ago and I got really sick, really sick.

And the only toilet they had was a squat toilet. And that has to be one of the lowest points of my life when you are very ill and the only amenities is a squat toilet. I'll maybe cut this bit out 'cause that's absolutely disgusting.

Sarah Nguyen: I, it's also like you with a bucket. Pour into the hole in order to flush it. There's no flush handle. You have to like literally scoop water from a hole and pour into a squat, squat toilet. but I do wanna say though, like physically speaking, it's healthier to be in a squatting position when you're doing your business than sitting.

Niall (2): Oh, I've seen this infographic. Yeah, because this is disgusting. Because your bows are like more aligned, right? 

Sarah Nguyen: Yes, exactly. Exactly. So, Southeast Asia do something, 

Niall (2): but you gotta be good at the Asian squat to be able to do that, which is just one of the most amazing things in the world that, that in [00:55:00] Vietnam and in Asia, they can just squat for an indefinite amount of time, in any situation, mostly for no reason.

Like just on the side of the street or just chilling out, like just in the Asian squat. 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah, it requires a level of flexibility that must be built up. 

Niall (2): It's definitely something you need to have done from a young age. Right. And you watch people who are like older who do it and it's like, that's incredible that you can still do that.

So thank you so, so much. This has been awesome. I've had so much fun. I've been really looking forward to this conversation. I've been fan gilding over you, like you were with Drew Barrymore. tell all of our listeners more about where they can follow you, find you, I'm really sorry we've kind of run outta time.

We didn't even get a chance to talk about you activism, which I really did want to talk about as well. So give a quick shout out about the work you're doing is in terms of the Stop Asian hate and working with the Asian and Pacific Islander communities as well. 

Sarah Nguyen: Yeah, absolutely. I think in general like.

In America if people under unaware. There's just been a [00:56:00] huge rise in surge in anti-Asian violence and anti-Asian racism, where a lot of our Asian American elders, like, grandparents, elderly folks are just being straight up, attacked in the streets and a lot of it. It stemmed from the scapegoating of COVID-19 against Asian folks.

it stems directly from our previous presidents,language scapegoating Asian people for COVID-19. So it's been a very difficult time, in the US right now for Asian Americans, a lot of us don't feel safe. A lot of us don't feel like our parents are safe when we step out because these attacks are happening at any moment and in major cities everywhere.  

So for me, in addition to a lot of the fundraisers and the community actions we've done, I really think at the end of the day, just like when coffee supply is the work, like building when coffee supply, building a new system and a ecosystem rooted in transparency, visibility, representation, and equity, is part of the work of [00:57:00] building just a better world here.

So. if people wanna follow us and follow our journey, you can. We put all of our most exciting news on Instagram, first and foremost. So it's at win cognitively, where that's on Facebook, Twitter, everywhere. we also have a website we are not currently shipping to Vietnam, but if you're anywhere else in the world, try us out.

We ship nationwide into a few international countries. It's WinCo supply.com. or if you're not able to purchase from us, I highly would recommend joining our email list. I send out an a monthly newsletter and a monthly letter from me directly about our journey. And me personally, you can find me on Instagram at one ounce gold, O-N-E-O-U-N-C-E-G-O-L-D.

Niall (2): Awesome. I thought about that question about like, can you buy your coffee here in Vietnam? But it seems kind of reductive that if you were to. Export coffee beans to Brooklyn, roast them and then send them back to Vietnam. I feel like that would make it extremely expensive. 

Sarah Nguyen: It [00:58:00] would. But Niall, I've had people in Vietnam who have asked me to ship them coffee.

Oh wow. And it's really fascinating and I'm like,you know, you have this right, it's Vietnamese coffee. but it speaks to the power of, brand and cultural cachet. I think a lot of 'em is really fascinated about our made in Brooklyn story. us being Barrymore, it just speaks to this larger power of culture exchange.

Niall (2): Well post pandemic, when we can get back to the states. I will be definitely seeking out wind coffee supply if I come to back to New York, which I used to live there, so I love it. I've not been back to New York for, I. A long time, over 10 years. So I'm excited to go back. I'm sure it's not, I'm sure it's a completely different city to the one that I lived in from, all accounts that I've held.  

But I'm excited to get back one day and and I'll try your coffee as well. So listen, thank you so, so much. This has been so much fun. it's been great to talk and I hopefully we'll talk again soon and I will see you [00:59:00] when you come back to Vietnam. 

Sarah Nguyen: Yes, I look forward to it, Niall. Thank you so much for having me.

Niall (2): No worries. Cheers.

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