Binh Khiem Nguyen

From coffee operations to Kalim

1. 2018 · The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

   Kalim began his coffee career as a barista, preparing drinks and serving guests before moving into coffee-shop operations.

2. 2019 · Black Bottle Coffee, Vietnam

   At Black Bottle Coffee, his work included menu setup and store operations. His journey continued across larger coffee chains and smaller cafés in Vietnam, alongside coffee production and staff development.

3. Roasting and practical training

   His work includes roasted-coffee production, hands-on roasting and training baristas from basic skills to advanced techniques. Product quality and staff development are both part of the operating experience he brings to Kalim.

4. Early 2026 · Calgary

   Kalim supported Marius Dobré with the opening of Dobré Café at Westbrook CTrain Station in Calgary and with staff training. He now applies his experience in coffee operations and training to developing Kalim Coffee in Canada, its connected app ecosystem and voice ordering.

5. Today · The Canadian project

   He is developing Kalim, Kalims, KalimStaffs and Kalim Invest as a connected ecosystem for the guest, the store, its employees and authorized investors. Alongside those apps, he is preparing the first Kalim Coffee café and drive-thru concept in Calgary, Alberta.

   His aim is to bring ordering, preparation, team coordination and business information into a clearer service journey, then use the first location’s operating experience to improve the technology and prepare for future growth.

Professional background supplied by Binh Khiem Nguyen in the company’s business plan and follow-up details. The Dobré Café role is described by the founder; no endorsement from that business is implied. Updated 6 October 2026.

Learning at the source, researching the whole system

Kalim travelled to coffee farms and roasteries in Vietnam to learn through visits, conversations and cupping. His exploration included coffee processing, green coffee and roasting—work that happens before a drink reaches the café counter.

Following the pandemic, he focused increasingly on researching how to improve the way coffee businesses operate. He continued travelling to learn and shared his own coffee with people he met. That practical and personal journey now informs the Canadian project: connect the product, the guest, the store and the people preparing each drink.

The coffee work behind the brand

Kalim’s background extends from serving guests to roasted-coffee production, hands-on roasting and supporting store teams. Coffee quality and the organization of service both inform his work: the product needs to be prepared well, and the people serving it need a clear routine.

His barista training work covers basic skills through advanced techniques. In the Kalim project, that experience informs drink standards, practical learning and preparation of the team. A recipe on a screen needs to connect with the way a barista actually makes the drink.

He is bringing that operating background into the development of Kalim Coffee in Canada. The work includes preparing the menu and service flow while developing the apps that connect an order with preparation and pickup.

Coffee as the starting point for a new service experience

Kalim wants to develop a new, connected service experience in Canada that makes everyday interactions easier and more convenient. Coffee provides the first practical setting for that ambition: a guest choosing a drink, a team preparing it and a business coordinating the work.

Through Kalim Innovation, he wants a guest to move naturally from exploring the menu or speaking an order to reviewing, paying and collecting it. Behind that experience, the team needs clear order information and managers need a dependable view of service, staffing and stock. The aim is fewer repeated steps and better coordination between the people involved.

The four-app ecosystem is the foundation he is developing around that idea. Over time, he hopes the lessons and technology developed through Kalim Coffee can inform other service experiences in Canada. That future direction will be shaped by practical use and what the company learns as it grows.

What he is building: the Kalim ecosystem

The four apps give each part of the coffee business its own workspace, connected through the same service journey.

Kalim · Store operations

Kalim is the store’s point-of-sale and operating centre. It connects in-store and guest-app orders with checkout, preparation, pickup and customer displays. Menu management, inventory and store reporting help owners and managers understand the work at their assigned locations.

Payment integration work includes Apple Pay for guests and Tap to Pay on iPhone for the store, subject to supported devices, account configuration and the required approvals. Kalim’s aim is to connect the customer’s confirmed drink with a clear preparation task and a reliable record of the order.

Kalims · Guests, membership and voice ordering

Kalims brings the coffee and tea menu to guests. Drink choices, customizations, order review, progress tracking, receipts and history sit alongside membership, Drops and rewards. The experience is intended to continue beyond a single purchase.

Kalim Assistant adds a conversational way to explore drinks and begin an order. The guest still reviews the selected drink and final total before payment. Further development aims to connect that experience with drive-thru pickup and membership interactions.

KalimStaffs · The team behind each cup

KalimStaffs supports employees through assigned stores, attendance, schedules, recorded hours, tips and pay information. Training, coffee knowledge and workplace guidance connect Kalim’s barista background with the team’s everyday work.

His goal is to help employees understand drinks, equipment and service routines while managers coordinate their stores. Payment-related work is intended to retain a manager’s review and approval.

Kalim Invest · The company’s direction

Kalim Invest provides a workspace for authorized investors to review approved plans, financial updates and funding priorities, with a channel for communication with the team. Its permissions are distinct from guest and employee accounts.

The aim is to make the company’s development easier to follow, keeping proposed plans and assumptions distinguishable from results as the coffee business grows.

Across the ecosystem, he wants to reduce repeated work and gaps in information. A guest order moves into the store, the team follows preparation and pickup, and approved business information reaches the people responsible for reviewing it. Each role keeps its own access and responsibilities.

Voice ordering and the planned drive-thru journey

Kalim Assistant is being developed as another way for guests to begin an order: speak a drink request, explore the menu and review the details before payment. The order then follows the preparation and pickup workflow.

The voice-ordering story shows how this could connect with a drive-thru visit. A pickup window belongs to the first-location concept; its opening and operating details will be announced when the location is ready.

The next chapter: from development to a growing coffee business

Prepare the first Calgary café

The immediate priority is to bring together the site, financing, menu, service flow and team preparation for the first Kalim Coffee location. App development and testing continue alongside that physical project. Opening and pickup details will be announced when the site is ready.

Learn from the work of one store

Kalim wants to test coffee quality, hospitality and technology together in real service. Order accuracy, preparation and pickup time, repeat visits, inventory use, staffing and weekly cash will help guide improvements to the operation and its apps.

Build a repeatable model for Canada

His ambition is to develop Kalim Coffee across Canada, with the ecosystem supporting additional stores and their teams. Growth is intended to follow demonstrated demand, consistent service and workable unit economics. Employee learning, store permissions and clear reporting are part of preparing that model.

Continue researching voice and automation

The longer-term direction includes improving Kalim Assistant, voice ordering and employee learning, and exploring more advanced AI coordination and robotic drink preparation. These are research and development ambitions that require further validation and funding. The aim is to support dependable service while keeping the warmth of hospitality at the centre.

The published investment overview explains the company’s proposed stages and planning assumptions.

A coffee conversation with Mai Triều Nguyễn

Kalim describes his travels, continuing research and sharing coffee as the journey that led Mai Triều Nguyễn to invite him to a podcast conversation about coffee and personal interests.

More from Kalim

Binh Khiem Nguyen (Kalim Nguyen): From Coffee Operations to the Kalim Ecosystem →

Four Kalim apps, one coffee journey →