Events

FHA2006 closes on a high note

Elicits good response from trade buyers

Food&HotelAsia2006 (FHA2006), the biennial event for the food and hospitality industries, returned for its 15th edition to Singapore. The four-day event was witness to several government dignitaries from different countries as well as key buyers from hotel groups, hospitality and entertainment companies.

Singapore's Minister of Trade & Industry, Lim Hng Kiang, declared the show open while Australia's Minister for Agriculture & Food, Kim Chance MLC, toured the Western Australia pavilion which featured more than 60 companies. Jim Sutton, New Zealand's Minister of State, also dropped by at the New Zealand pavilion.

David R Good, group director of Operations (Projects & Openings) from Central Hotels & Resorts, revealed that the hotel is sourcing for its projects in Thailand. "We're building several hotels and are looking for suppliers, kitchen equipment as well as products with representation in Thailand," he said. A total of 36,358 trade buyers, including 50 group delegations from Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Hong Kong visited the food show, which saw heavy traffic from April 25 to 28, 2006. Some of the restaurant groups and F&B associations included the China Association of Bakery & Confectionery Industry, the Association of Hong Kong Restaurant Managers, and the Malaysian F&B Executives Association.

Eric Choon from US Meat Export Federation - one of the exhibiting companies - rated the show positively. "We have seen more people from the trade and region such as Thailand, Vietnam and India. It has been good for our exporters," he said.

Buzzing with events

Apart from the showcase of food and drinks, foodservice technology and equipment, interior furnishings as well as bakery, the best chefs and culinary teams from around the world were also named.

Competitions such as the FHA2006 Culinary Challenge, the Asian Pastry Cup and the Wine Challenge, were held in conjunction with the food show. Below are results of the respective competitions:

• Culinary Challenge: The Battle for the Lion went to Germany, with Switzerland and Singapore clinching the second and third spots, respectively. Eileen Phua, team manager of the Singapore National Team and culinary instructor of the Culinary Academy Sentosa, said, "We didn't expect to do this well. We just put in our very best."
  The Singapore National Team which won a total of four awards at the FHA2006 Culinary Challenge, comprises six chefs from Oriental Hotel, Orchard Hotel and Canele, a pattiserie shop from Les Amis.
• Asian Pastry Cup: The Singapore team clinched the coveted Asian Pastry Cup award, with Malaysia and Macau placed second and third, respectively. Macau also won the Sugar Showpiece Prize while Malaysia won the Chocolate Showpiece Prize. Singapore, Malaysia and Australia will make it to the World Pastry Cup to be held in Lyon, France, in 2007. The competition, a spin-off of the internationally acclaimed The World Pastry Cup, put the abilities of Asia's finest pastry chefs to the test.
• Wine&SpiritsAsia Challenge 2006: The Wine Challenge received a total of 629 wine entries, 23.8 per cent more than 2004, which received 508 entries. Of the over 600 wine entries, 546 won awards - 10 won gold, 90 were awarded silver, 302 got bronze, while 144 obtained Merit.