The only European Coffee Roaster in South East Asia, Boncafé humbly established itself in Singapore in 1962, under a small zinc-roofed building at Jalan Rajawali (Jurong) which housed its roasting plant with only four staff.

Under the vision of Mr Werner Ernst Huber, a Swiss National living and working in Singapore as a commodities trader, Boncafé has grown from a humble supplier of refined coffee products to a full fledged coffee institution that celebrates the history, knowledge and expression of Man’s relationship with coffee. It began with a chance encounter with the wife of an expatriate newspaperman who rued that it was impossible to find a “decent” cup of coffee anywhere in Singapore (as the standard practice in those days was mixing low grade coffee powder, margarine, sugar and maize). This sowed the seeds of imagination within Mr Huber, and presented him with a golden opportunity.

He saw the potential to concentrate in using the highest grades of Coffee Beans to roast and blend 100% Gourmet Coffee, on par with those found in European countries. With encouragement from his friends and constant testing and experimentation, Mr Huber quickly mastered  the fine art of Coffee Roasting and Blending, and became Boncafé’s first Roastmaster. With widespread skepticism in the market in those days, many asked how anyone, especially a foreigner, could possibly compete against the stronghold of local Chinese coffee roasters. Mr Huber, however, persisted in his conviction that there will always be a market for high quality products backed by personalised service.

Bringing together the very best coffee beans from around the world, and roasting and blending them  with passion, spirit and enthusiasm, Boncafé took flight.