KOTO stands for “Know One, Teach One” : meaning that learning should be passed on; that knowledge is there to be shared. This is the essential idea of KOTO’s founder, Jimmy Pham, a Vietnamese-Australian who more than 10 years ago opened a training centre in hospitality in Hanoi, giving disadvantaged youth the possibility to learn and strive in their lives. Its staff consists primarily of former street children who receive training in catering. As a social enterprise, KOTO has trained over 400 students at its two training centres in Hanoi and Saigon, with 200 more currently enrolled. In addition to its Foundation arm that focuses on raising funds to support its cause through charitable activities and initiatives, KOTO also operates an Enterprise arm that serves as a platform for real life hospitality training as well as a source of income to support the welfare and training for the students. The KOTO Enterprises currently include two restaurants, an online bakery, a cooking class and a catering service. Many graduates of the restaurant/school continue their career development by working at the KOTO restaurants, supporting the new trainees according to the founder’s motto, and so the learning circle endures. Already by 2008 KOTO had become one of the biggest and best known restaurants in Hanoi.
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