Food&HotelAsia2008 (FHA 2008)
22 – 25 April 2008
Singapore Expo (Hall 1 – 7)
1 Expo Drive #01 - 01
Singapore

Our FHA2008’s diary is to live a green and fair life … let our imagination go wild over organics!

Food&HotelAsia2008 – Asia’s largest international food and hospitality event

FHA2008 (Food&HotelAsia2008 – 16th Edition) presented buyers and traders a fresh perspective into the food and hospitality industry with the latest industry trends, cutting-edge technologies and applications available in the hospitality sector. FHA2008 hosted six thematic events – FoodAsia, Wines&SpiritsAsia, Bakery&Pastry, HotelAsia, HospitalityStyleAsia and HospitalityTechnology.

In response to Asia’s buoyant tourism outlook and phenomenal growth of its hospitality industry, FHA2008 had lined up a wide showcase of the industry’s must-haves, offering international buyers direct access to a wide range of products, services and technological solutions that meet their needs, while simultaneously providing an excellent platform for them to engage in trade opportunities and network with business peers and industry experts.

With over 2,600 exhibiting companies from 70 countries, of which approximately 80 per cent from overseas, FHA2008 recorded a total of 75,000 square metres (seven halls of the Singapore Expo). The show attracted more than 37,000 visitors from 80 countries, of which approximately 38 per cent were from overseas.

The show welcomed over 50 buyer delegations, including SATS Catering Pte Ltd, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines, National Bakery Association of India, Batam View Beach Resort and the Hong Kong Bakery and Confectionery Association Limited.

Out of the 33 international group pavilions, Singapore pavilion had the largest turnout with about 53 companies featuring food and wine products in the Singapore pavilion.

FHA featured a halal pavilion that occupied about 450 square metres with exhibits such as sauces, condiments, beverages, processed food, meat-based confectionery, and finance and consultancy services.

More adrenaline could be found at the FHA Culinary Challenge (FCC) and FHA Imperial Challenge. The FCC, comprising of three main competition categories - The Gourmet Team Challenge, The Dream Team Challenge and The Individual Challenge - featured hundreds of chefs from 17 countries competing in a battle of the best culinary talents. The FHA Imperial Challenge separately gathered the best of Chinese culinary professionals in Asia competing to clinch the title of the FHA2008 Imperial Challenge Champion Team.

The Asian Pastry Cup, a spin-off of the internationally acclaimed contest, the World Pastry Cup, returned for its second showing. The pastry competition, which put the abilities of Asia’s finest pastry chefs to the test, was also the official platform to pre-select three Asian countries to participate in the World Pastry Cup 2009 to be held in Lyon, France.

Visitors gained valuable market insights and participate in interactive discussions through a host of conferences, seminars and workshops. These included the Halal Trade Forum, the FHA Food Safety Forum, the Asian Club Managers’ Conference 2008, the Asian Hospitality Finance and Technology Conference and the FHA/AHRA Hotel GM Forum.

New features

For the first time, a competition between Asia’s best coffee barista professionals held at an Asian level at FHA2008. The “Asia Barista Championship” had 11 national reigning baristas - from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand - congregated on one platform to pit their skills for the title of “Asia Barista Champion”. The Championship aspired to foster growth, quality and recognition of the Barista profession in Asia, cultivated wider appreciation and awareness of specialty coffee, and underlined the barista profession in the specialty coffee industry.

A live interactive tour of the latest best-of-breed hospitality technologies was unveiled at the HotelTec Showcase. Leading companies – including Alcatel-Lucent, Bartech Automatic Systems, Infrasys, Sigma.3, Softbrands, and Vingcard – showcased applications that offer high efficiency and convenience without compromising maximum comfort for the hotel guest. These applications included simplified hotel check-in using passport reader technology; multimedia signages; use of RFID technology to unlock hotel room doors; hotel rooms featuring IP phone telephony and IPTV. The Showcase was organised by the Singapore Hotel Association with the support of Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Exhibition Services.

The Asia Pacific Travel Catering conference and exhibition was hosted in Singapore for the first time in conjunction with FHA. The Asia Pacific Travel Catering, supported exclusively by the world’s leading industry associations, International Travel Catering Association (ITCA) and the International Flight Services Association (IFSA), served as a unique international meeting point for buyers and sellers for the airline, rail and ferry catering sectors, and was positioned as the fastest entry point to the world’s fast growing travel market. The IFSA/ITCA Asia Pacific Conference gathered high-calibre speakers and experts from the region’s leading companies and organisations to reveal insights and exchange valuable information on the challenges and issues facing the travel industry.

Picture Caption @ Opening Ceremony (starting from left to right): Stephen White, Chief Executive of Singapore Exhibition Services; Ken Samara, President of International Flight Services Association; Guest-of-Honour Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, S Iswaran; Kay Kuok, President of the Singapore Hotel Association; Stephen Tan, Chief Executive of Singapore Executive Services.

For further information, please visit: www.foodnhotelasia.com

Text Edited by Ai San Yip. Information and Photos Courtesy of FHA 2008. All Rights Reserved.