In Huế, Vietnam, La Boulangerie Française has been training disadvantaged young people in the art of breadmaking for the past twenty years. Buoyed by the success of the initiative, the model is now expanding across Asia.

The project originated in a market study conducted by two HEC students, Thomas Behaghel (H.00) and Jean-Christophe Vallat (H.00). Since 1999, a bakery and pastry school has been operating in Huế with the support of the NGO Aide à l’Enfance du Vietnam (AEVN). Twenty years on, the concept continues to prove its worth. “The idea is to reach out to disadvantaged young people who do not have access to higher education,” explains Thomas Behaghel, who has since turned this personal commitment into a full-time career. As for entry requirements, students aged 18 to 23 must be able to read, write and count. Sixty percent are women, and 70 percent come from rural provinces of Vietnam.

The products made by students are sold to high-end hotels, as well as to Vietnam’s growing middle class and to tourists. This business model covers 95 percent of the school’s operating costs. For many of the 165 students trained across La Boulangerie Française’s three schools, the program has been a genuine springboard. Around a dozen have opened their own bakery, five now work abroad, and about thirty have progressed to chef or sous-chef positions in four- and five-star hotels. Following the school’s success, two additional branches have opened in recent years in Ho Chi Minh City and Yangon, Myanmar. Since 2015, La Boulangerie Française has been part of the European Institute for Cooperation and Development (IECD), where Thomas Behaghel heads the Southeast Asia division. The ambition now is to expand beyond Asia, from Madagascar to Egypt.

Teaching young people how to bake bread and pastries as a pathway out of poverty lies at the heart of La Boulangerie Française’s mission in Huế. Alongside theoretical and practical bakery training, the curriculum includes English classes and life-skills training to support students’ entry into the workforce. “Because we have a boarding facility, the school feels very much like a family. It becomes a real anchor for the students, who often come back to visit after graduation,” says Behaghel.

For more information: thomas.behaghel@iecd.org

 

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