Young public servant supports foreign cafe in Ningbo

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province, has just issued its first-ever food production license to a foreign-owned micro-workshop — thanks in no small part to a young local official who helped turn a policy into a possibility.

Nestling in the remote hills of Mao'ao village, Bamboo Coffee Roasters recently became the city's first licensed foreign-funded food micro-workshop.

Its founder, Frank Sterzer, once a seasoned automotive executive, had come in search of a slower life — and he brought with him the dream of roasting exceptional coffee beans in a peaceful mountain village.

But passion alone wouldn't get his beans past the regulatory gate — it took persistence, paperwork and the right kind of ally.

That's when Weng Xinchen stepped in. A public servant in the village, Weng first met Sterzer at a village meeting in 2023, when Sterzer arrived with an English-language business plan and a very ambitious goal. Seeing the potential in both the man and the project, Weng offered to help.

He dug deep into provincial regulations on food safety and small-scale workshops, translated the dense legal jargon into actionable steps and walked Sterzer through each requirement.

From how to zone the roasting space to designing compliant labels for pre-packaged beans, Weng was at Sterzer's side all the way, guiding the process detail by detail.

He also served as a liaison to the local market regulation bureau — coordinating on-site visits, collecting policy feedback and pushing for procedural clarity. His efforts helped streamline what could've been a maze of bureaucracy into a manageable pathway.

Months later, Sterzer received the first-ever small food workshop license issued to a foreign-owned business in Ningbo.

For Mao'ao village, Bamboo Coffee Roasters has become more than a cafe. It's now a popular stop for weekend travelers and a model for rural innovation — proof if ever it's needed that even in the quietest corners, a well-brewed partnership can stir up something extraordinary.