Our Story
The Journey To Now
The Journey Begin
Jars of Clay was established in 1998 by Barbara Neale (a missionary from the UK), starting with 5 young women who were equal shareholders in the business. Jars of Clay Café was founded on Christian values, with a strong social mission to help vulnerable young women and girls from various background who have either experienced hardship in their life, or were needing reintegration into a safe workplace setting after being rescued from human trafficking or prostitution. Our vision has always been to provide a family style Cafe to provide sustainable employment of vulnerable women.
Our first Cafe (located in the busy Toul Tom Poung area, close to the Russian Market) attracts a high number of tourists seeking a place that feels like home and can provide respite from the heat and noise. Our Cafe quickly became known for offering a great range of home-made cakes, western styled coffee and healthy & tasty food that appealed to locally based expats and tourists alike. The business has grown steadily over the years with many new young women added to our staff employed, enabling them an opportunity to build a new life.
The Transition
In 2007 Barbara handed the business over to the Cambodian staff who were existing shareholders in the business. Since then the business has continued to flourish under the Khmer management team. We continue to offer shareholding opportunity to all our full time Cambodian staff in addition to paying good salaries - we also provide our staff with access to education scholarships. Overall, we pride ourselves in providing a great place to work!
The Renovation
In 2010, we expanded by renovating the first Cafe to include an upstairs eating area - which was well received by all our faithful customers and allowed us to employ a total of 18 young women!
The Expansion
In 2015, we launched a second café in Phnom Penh (located near the Phnom Penh Airport – in Phnom Penh Thmey area), which enables us to serve many new customers based in the north of the city now. As our journey continues, we are very proud of what we have achieved as a group of young Cambodian women - all from humble backgrounds. However, also remain focused and committed in our efforts to continue growing in our ability and attitude to serve our customers with great quality food, cakes and beverages - always with love.
Our Story
Our Vision and Mission
At Jars Of Clay, our vision is to satisfy every customer through our great service, friendly atmosphere and the great range of quality food, cakes and beverages. We want our customers to value the Jars experience, to feel the love in our hearts and know the impact of supporting our cause of providing safe employment for disadvantaged Cambodian women. This will ensure that we can employ even more vulnerable young women, offering them a great place to work and learn valuable skills. We have a vision to expand and open multiple Cafes over the next 5 years (outside of Phnom Penh) to provide even more choice to those seeking great home cooking, homemade cakes and fresh coffee all served in a friendly, family style Cafe environment.
" So many cakes to choose from! Fantastic place to escape the street and have a coffee while using the wifi or catching up with friends. "
-- Nichola C
" Cute little place, great mixture of European and Khmer cuisines, feels really homey and cozy and they have a really good selection of homemade cakes! "
-- Vfla
" Nice place to relax and grab a drink or a cake or a meal. Very near to Russian Market. Make sure you head upstairs for more seating. "
-- ShungAng
" Love this restaurant! Great for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The staff are very friendly, the menu is varied and prices are reasonable. I especially love the home made cakes! "
-- Josephine A
" Had a delicious spinach and ricotta pie here...and chocolate brownie...and other delicious things! Good atmosphere too with cane chair settings to relax a little. "
-- Heidi M
" First of all, the menu is FANTASTIC. my friends and i had such agony choosing our food because everything looked so delicious. it is a mix of Western and Asian dishes. everything was so delightful, including an upstairs which is a lot more spacious than it looks when you first enter. love the cozy decor. they also have a merch corner which you can find bargain items including apparel, books and DVDs. this establishment is run by cambodian women for support their families. don't leave before having dessert!!!! "
-- Jing Ying
" The food was great and the girls helpful. They have added new items to the menu and it was exciting. During my short stay, I went there twice ! "
-- Lineta T
" Popped into this restaurant, set up to help Khmer women, to meet a friend. Pleased I did as very comfortable and great AC when it was scorching hot in May. Had a very nice lasagna and just had to try the sweet department. They make wonderful cheesecakes here. All together, a very nice relaxing place with a good range on their menu. "