Singapore: The world’s food and hospitality professionals have gathered in Singapore to attend Asia’s largest food and hospitality trade event. Food&HotelAsia (FHA) together with Wine&SpiritsAsia (WSA), kicks off today at the Singapore Expo till Friday 11 April 2014. Mr S. Iswaran, Minister in Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Trade and Industry and Home Affairs graced the event’s opening ceremony this morning.

The staple event where international business deals will be sealed

The event has gained the cachet of bringing the world to Asia, with some 3,000 exhibitors from 65 countries/regions transforming the venue into a global food and hospitality marketplace.

The show will offer the finest and most unique food ingredients and products, food service equipment, and technology that address pressing issues faced by the industry today – the need for space, labour and time saving solutions. Visitors will be spoilt for choice with the array of innovations from the exhibitors that will help them increase productivity.

63 international group pavilions largely headed by the respective country’s trade and industry ministries and associations is a reflection of the event’s position as a gateway to Asia’s food and hospitality markets.

Exhibitors are all ready to welcome key decision makers from Asia’s F&B and hospitality sectors, who will be scouting the halls for their business needs, and concluding business transactions over the next four days. An estimated 45,000 trade visitors are expected to attend FHA and WSA. The event will be hosting some 60 visitor group delegations from big F&B and hospitality names such as City of Dreams, Guangzhou Hotel Association, Hotel Gastro Union, Les Toques Blanches Victoria Charter, Malaysian Association of Hotels (Kuala Lumpur & Penang), Penang Chefs Association, Saigon Professional Chefs Guild, Siam Makro, The Malaysian F&B Executive Association, and more.

“We’ve come a long way over the years, growing the show to become Asia’s key business platform for the food and hospitality industries,” said Mr Stephen Tan, Chief Executive of show organiser, Singapore Exhibition Services. “Going beyond being a sourcing ground for the regional industry, the show is also a knowledge-sharing platform with the FHA2014 International Conference and an international competition arena, delivering a holistic experience to all attendees at FHA and WSA 2014.”

FHA International Conference

The FHA International Conference this year zooms in on the most talked-about topics and issues in the F&B and hospitality industries, with three key conference tracks – Food Manufacturing, Food Services and Hotels & Resorts.

The Conference will feature a plenary session to provide the industry with practical solutions on how to deal with the manpower shortage. Other topics that will be covered include managing hotel operations and revenue optimisation strategies; managing F&B operations and food concepts; latest technologies for the hotel and F&B; food safety, covering latest food regulations and contamination detection methods and food product innovation and development.

World-class competitions

The FHA Culinary Challenge (FCC) will see 856 chefs from all over the world battle in the Individual Challenge, Dream Team Challenge and Gourmet Team Challenge. Returning this year to the FCC is the National Team Challenge. Held once every four years, nine national teams will compete, but only the top three will qualify for the Battle of the Lion, with one emerging victorious. The Asian Pastry Cup will be held in conjunction with Bakery&Pastry.

In addition, the event will also host the FHA Barista Challenge and first-ever FHA Latte Art Challenge, alongside a number of courses, workshops and fringe activities.

Competitions at WSA include the RIPE-WSA Cocktail Challenge as well as the WSA Wine Challenge. Awards for the winning wines will be presented tonight at the first MAGNUM NIGHT, an exclusive networking event for the international wine scene. The winning labels will also be displayed at an exclusive tasting lounge at WSA.

FHA consists of six specialty shows that cater to the respective sectors within the industry – Bakery&Pastry, FoodAsia, HospitalityStyleAsia, HospitalityTechnology, HotelAsia, and the new addition, SpecialtyCoffee&Tea, which will showcase a comprehensive range of products, equipment and services from producers and suppliers from all over the world.

WSA has been held alongside FHA since 2010 to give it the space and distinction to grow into a premium trade exhibition of spirits and wines for regional buyers. The show has 168 exhibitors from 22 countries/regions and seven group pavilions. This year’s show has the most number of group pavilions, representing the world’s top producing wine regions, with Spain leading the charge with the biggest pavilion. Adding to the buzz on the show floor is a series of talks and master-classes highlighting wines from countries such as Austria, France, Italy and Spain.

FHA, together with WSA has grown into an event that is marked on the calendars of Asia’s food and hospitality bigwigs. The shows now occupy over 102,000 square metres of exhibition space – an increase of 10 per cent over the last show, with more than 3,000 exhibitors from 65 countries/regions. The show will have 63 international group pavilions from across the globe. More than 45,000 trade visitors – both foreign and local – from 90 countries/regions are expected to attend the event.