After fleeing the Khmer Rogue, Cambodian immigrants helped reshape SoCal’s food culture by turning small donut shops into neighborhood fixtures.
Did you know approximately 80% of independent donut shops in Southern California are owned by Cambodian immigrants?
It all began in the mid-70s. Cambodian refugees fled the Khmer Rouge, many of them settling in Southern California. One of those refugees was Ted Ngoy and he is known as “The Donut King” today. When he arrived in the States, Ngoy worked different jobs to take care of his family and eventually found an affirmative action training program through Winchell’s Donuts.
Ngoy later managed a Winchell’s store in Newport Beach, employed his wife and nephew and by 1977 he was able to purchase his first donut shop in La Habra, Christy’s Donuts. Under his ownership, Christy’s became a hit and from there, Ngoy expanded his network and owned over 25 donut shops by 1979, which were all run by his Cambodian relatives and other refugees. So not only was Ngoy growing his business, he was also sponsoring and training Cambodians who were fleeing to the United States.
Ngoy and his family lived out of a motor home and traveled throughout SoCal establishing different shops and owned 32 Christy’s locations in 1987. Ngoy showed refugee families the blueprint for rebuilding and setting up a practical opportunity. Donut shops operate early in the morning and owners can employ their family members, reducing staff costs.
Cambodian families began following this blueprint, passing down stores through the generations. Today there are roughly 1,500 independent donut shops in Southern California with about 80% of them being Cambodian-owned. Second and third-generation Cambodian Americans are modernizing the legacy with gourmet concepts and hopping on social media trends.
Donut shops started as a survival strategy for refugee families, but now it’s one of the most motivating entrepreneurial success stories in American food culture.
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