Chapter 14 — Coffee Pairing Queen

"Independent of the research and development and market department, reporting directly to the CEO." "Mainly doing two things: One is building a system of quality control standards for the entire product portfolio; second is tracing the origin of the supply chain and controlling food safety risks." "The annual salary is four times the current. The team is built by yourself." I turned the glass in my hand and did not answer immediately. "Tham Viet, when I left that year, I really didn't want to touch the industry." “I know.” He nodded. “But three years
What have you done in the past?” “You wrote three hundred reviews, accumulated one hundred and eighty thousand followers, took the Q-Grader and didn't let your certificate expire…” “You also just used your expertise to detect a food safety criminal.” “Khuong Ninh, it's not that you don't want to touch it. She just doesn't want to be touched the way others prescribe." I was silent for a long time. "Let me think." "No rush. The job offer will be kept for one month." When he stood up to pay, he added one more sentence. "That's right, by the way.
one thing with you. During the further investigation of Tran Ban's case, they discovered a larger network." "His supplier of waste beans, 'Hang Nguyen Agricultural Products', is a larger network." "Specializing in reconditioning for a second time and then reselling expired, moldy and returned agricultural products." "Coffee beans are just one type of it. There are also dried fruits, flower tea and cereals." "The market management agency has coordinated with the police to establish a special case." "If you really come to Lam Son to do quality control in the future... things like this
is what you have to confront." I watched his back go out. The string that had been dormant for three years in my head shook slightly. PART 21 Two weeks later, the Tran Ban case officially entered criminal proceedings. Crime: Producing and trading food that did not meet safety standards. The amount of money involved after the audit exceeded one million four hundred thousand yuan. Phuong Di, as a shareholder of the company and a person directly involved in promoting and selling, was handled in the same case. That day, I saw the court's public information
locality online, Phuong Di's name is clearly on the list. In the comments section, someone took a photo of the post where she showed off "special farm-level goods" on her personal page, with the caption: "Now do you know what truly special goods are? Special goods in detention camps." Harsh, but not worth agreeing with. On the same day, Ms. Ly called me. "Miss Ninh, my daughter's test results are out." "Liver enzymes increased slightly. The doctor said that after stopping exposure to harmful substances, she will slowly recover."
“Thank you.” Really thank you. That day, if you hadn't told my husband to take our child for a checkup..." She cried. "It's okay. The baby doesn't have any big problems." "From now on, don't put anything in your mouth." Hanging up, I opened the WeChat message list. General Director Vuong's invitation to join a new project. Tham Viet's invitation to work at Lam Son. Luong Kha's intention to cooperate from "Eat for Understanding". There are also dozens of private messages about brand cooperation piling up in the "That Cup of Coffee" admin section.
Those things were spread out in front of me, as if they were asking me the same question... What do you want to do? I turned off the phone and made myself a pot of coffee. Today I used a Costa Rican honey. Aftertaste of caramel, melon and dark chocolate slowly spreads. I looked at the amber liquid in the cup. It's been three years. I pretended I was just a normal office worker who liked to help my colleagues order food. But during those three years, what I did every day after work... researched roasting curves, wrote notes
tasting, tracking supply chain fluctuations in the industry, updating blogs... Is there anything a "normal office worker" would do? I'm just scared. I'm afraid that after returning to that industry, I'll be consumed, disappointed, and treated like a tool. But now someone told me… You can come back on your own terms. PART 22 It took me a month to make a decision. Refused General Director Vuong's invitation to participate in an internal project. Rejected Tham's invitation to become quality control director at Lam Son
Vietnamese. Also refused to cooperate full-time with Luong Kha. I choose the fourth path. I turned “That Cup of Coffee” from an anonymous blog into a brand using its real name. Founder: Khuong Ninh. CQI Q-Grader. Former research and development engineer of Lam Son Coffee Group. Positioning: Independent third party evaluates coffee quality and monitors food safety. Cooperation model: Does not accept brand advertising, only accepts authorization to test and disseminate knowledge to consumers. Source of income: Audit consulting
quality control for businesses, tasting training, paid columns. The first article under my real name has a very simple title. "What can be in the coffee you drink? Confessions of a Q-Grader." Without naming any brand, it only systematically disseminates common tricks in the coffee industry such as using poor goods to pass as good goods, refurbishing expired goods, and counterfeiting the place of production.