Mar 21, 2026

Our Story

Hi, my name is Anna. I was born in 1985 and come from Central Vietnam. As the eldest of six siblings, responsibility became part of who I was from a very young age. I helped care for my five younger brothers and sister through every stage of life, from childhood and schooling to graduation and marriage.

Those early years shaped me in profound ways. By caring for my family, I learned far more than practical skills. I learned how to nurture, how to lead, and how to hold many responsibilities with patience, discipline, and love. Cooking for my siblings, teaching them, guiding them, and paying attention to their needs taught me that true care lives in the smallest details.

Looking back, those experiences became the foundation of everything I do today. They gave me the strength to manage many parts of a business, from cooking and serving to marketing and sales, even with limited resource. In many ways, the woman behind BMCorner was first shaped at home, through the quiet and powerful act of caring for family.

My mother was an extraordinary cook, able to create almost every Vietnamese dish with remarkable skill and heart. Watching her in the kitchen taught me that food is far more than nourishment. It is care, it is love. She could transform the simplest ingredients from our garden into something deeply comforting and unforgettable, and through her, I developed a lifelong appreciation for the beauty and soul of Vietnamese cuisine.

I am an agricultural scientist, and over the years, I have immersed myself in the study of food, health, nutrition, and sustainability. One truth has always stayed close to my heart: at the essence of Vietnamese cuisine is fish sauce. Without it, Vietnamese food loses part of its identity, depth, and spirit.

This belief inspired me to preserve the traditional craft of fish sauce making, which led me to create the Thuyền Nan (Bamboo Boat) brand more than a decade ago. Over time, I became affectionately known as the “Fish Sauce Queen,” a title I carry with both pride and gratitude.

Why Bamboo Boat? Because it is a tribute to my roots. I come from a fishing family in Central Vietnam, where life was shaped by the river. We caught fish, made fish sauce, and prepared fermented fish using traditional methods passed down through generations. That heritage is part of who I am, and preserving it has always felt deeply meaningful to me.

Driven by a desire to contribute to a healthier and more sustainable future, I was awarded a government scholarship to pursue a Master of Sustainability at the University of Adelaide in 2011. After graduating, I returned to Vietnam to apply that knowledge to sustainable agriculture.

We’ve managed a 30-hectare coffee farm in Gia Nghia City, Lam Dong Province, near the highlands of Da Lat. The coffee you enjoy on our menu is grown, roasted, and prepared from our own farm, cultivated with care for the land, water, and biodiversity. For us, coffee is more than a drink. It is a taste of home, a connection to the land, and an extension of our story.

My passion for food also lives on through my younger brother, Loc. Inspired by our mother’s legacy, he pursued his own culinary path after high school, studying at TAFE Queensland and earning a Diploma in Kitchen Management. Today, he works as a chef at a five-star hotel in Hope Island, continuing our family’s love of hospitality and flavour in his own way.

At the heart of everything we do is one simple belief:

Food is Love. Food is Energy.

When you enjoy our dishes, whether it is Bánh Mì, Phở, spring rolls, cold rolls, or our signature Vietnamese coffee, you are experiencing more than a meal. You are tasting the care, tradition, and devotion of a family committed to sharing the true flavours of Vietnam with the world.