(1888PressRelease)
April 24, 2008 - Singapore Expo Gets Into Action A Week Before Show Dates of 22 – 25 April 2008
Singapore Expo opened its doors a week before the show for the set up of FHA. With hundreds of contractors and workers everyday coming with truckloads of equipment, decor, system materials, booths and products, Singapore Expo’s multipurpose halls 1 to 7 have now been transformed into Asia’s busiest and largest trading hub for the global food, hotel and hospitality industries.
Singapore Expo event services team also went into action to ensure that the venue was ready for pre-show needs like wine sorting, briefing sessions by different country pavilions and exhibitor groups, holding and preparation rooms, registration, moving in by exhibitors.
Seamless Expansion for FHA 2008
As a key venue partner and space supplier in Singapore and Asia, being the largest and most flexible in the nation, Singapore Expo has been venue host to many world dignitaries and major events that needed room to expand seamlessly under the one-venue one-roof concept. At this record breaking largest FHA edition, having expanded to 7 halls (75,000 sqm) for the first time, organiser Mr Stephen Tan from Singapore Exhibition Services commented, “If you walk down every aisle, you would have covered more than 10km!” So visitors can try all the food and drinks and walk off the calories, or even jog around Singapore Expo’s extensive spaces! Besides growing in size, FHA has grown to become the most established marketing, business networking and sourcing event for the industry.
Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Mr S Iswaran announced at the opening ceremony that Singapore’s food industry continues to post robust growth of up to $18 billion in 2007, rising by 16% over 2006. Quality, novelty, taste, and food safety make up Singapore’s competitive edge. “Recognising the importance of food safety, SPRING Singapore (Standards Productivity Innovation Board) has launched the Food Safety programme in partnership with the National Environment Agency and the Restaurant Association of Singapore to help our food companies acquire the necessary capabilities to be HACCP certified,” he said, referring to the Hazard Analysis Critical Point certification.
In response to Asia’s buoyant tourism outlook and phenomenal growth of its hospitality industry, FHA2008 has 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 2,627 exhibiting companies from 70 countries, of which approximately 80 per cent from overseas, FHA2008 spreads across a record 75,000 square metres or seven halls of the Singapore Expo. The show is expected to attract about 40,000 visitors from 80 countries, of which approximately 38 per cent will be from overseas.
33 international group pavilions are present this year. Singapore leads with the largest turnout, with about 459 exhibiting companies featuring mostly food and wine products hosted within the Singapore pavilion. The next highest is Italy with 255 exhibiting companies, followed by USA with 170, and Germany with 153.
FHA2008 incorporates several specialised events – Food Asia, Wines & Spirits Asia, Bakery & Pastry, Hotel Asia, Hospitality Style Asia and Hospitality Technology. Each event has its own distinct profile tailored for the increasingly sophisticated needs of the region’s food and hospitality industries.
The show welcomes over 50 buyer delegations, including SATS Catering Pte Ltd, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Philippines, Resorts World Sentosa, National Bakery Association of India, Taiwan Fermenting Food Industry Association, Batam View Beach Resort and the Hong Kong Bakery and Confectionery Association Limited.
Competitions, conference and seminars.
More adrenaline can 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 - will feature hundreds of chefs from 17 countries competing in a battle of the best culinary talents. The FHA Imperial Challenge separately features 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, returns for its second showing. The pastry competition, which puts the abilities of Asia’s finest pastry chefs to the test, is 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 can gain valuable market insights and participate in interactive discussions through a host of conferences, seminars and workshops. These include 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 will be held at an Asian level at FHA2008. The “Asia Barista Championship” will see 11 national reigning baristas - from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand - congregate on one platform to pit their skills for the title of “Asia Barista Champion”. The Championship aspires to foster growth, quality and recognition of the Barista profession in Asia, cultivate wider appreciation and awareness of specialty coffee, and underline the barista profession in the specialty coffee industry.
A live interactive tour of the latest best-of-breed hospitality technologies will be unveiled at the HotelTec Showcase. Leading companies – including Alcatel-Lucent, Bartech Automatic Systems, Infrasys, Sigma.3, Softbrands, and Vingcard - will showcase applications that offer high efficiency and convenience without compromising maximum comfort for the hotel guest. These applications include 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 is 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 is 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), will serve as a unique international meeting point for buyers and sellers for the airline, rail and ferry catering sectors, and is positioned as the fastest entry point to the world’s fast growing travel market.
The IFSA/ITCA Asia Pacific Conference gathers 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 today.
Facts at a glance:
Show: FHA2008 (Food&HotelAsia2008)
The 16th International Food & Drinks, Hotel, Restaurant, Bakery &Foodservice Equipment, Supplies & Services Exhibition and Conference with FHA Culinary Challenge (since 1978).
Encompassing:
FoodAsia, Wine&SpiritsAsia, Bakery&Pastry, HotelAsia,
HospitalityStyleAsia, HospitalityTechnology and Asia-Pacific Travel Catering
Date: 22 – 25 April 2008 (Tuesday – Friday)
Time: 22 – 24 April 2008 (Tues – Thurs) : 1000hrs – 1800hrs
25 April 2008 (Fri) : 1000hrs – 1600hrs
Venue: Singapore Expo Convention and Exibition Centre
Admission: For business and trade visitors only
About Food & Hotel Asia 2008
FHA2006 beat strong competition to triumph in the Exhibition of The Year category of the first Singapore Business Events Awards (SBEA) organised by the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB) of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Singapore Exhibition Services (SES), organiser of FHA2006, was conferred the award at the SBEA 2006 awards ceremony held on 2 August 2007.
About Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Centre
Ranked one of the top Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) venues in Asia, Singapore Expo, managed by Singex, is the largest MICE centre in Singapore and Asia. It is proud to be the chosen venue for some of the biggest Conventions, Meetings and Exhibitions held in the region.
With 10 convention & exhibition multipurpose halls, 10 conference halls, multiple Meeting Rooms, 8 mobile conference rooms, the venue can host groups of 20 to 20,000 delegates, in a single session with plenty of versatile spaces for breakout sessions, private VIP lounges and auxiliary activities.
All its 10 multipurpose halls of 10,000 sqm each, totalling 100,000 sqm, are on ground level, with continuous fully linked column free space, high ceilings, heavy floor loading, and covered walkways allowing easy movement and logistics for large convention groups and exhibitions.
The centre is equipped with the fastest 3.5G wireless broadband service, fibre optics backbone, wireless WIFI facilities, broadcast and satellite capabilities, broadband links, one of the top acoustics, AV sound and lighting systems, LCD panels, internet kiosks, and energy saving building automation systems.
Singapore Expo is a one stop conventions and meetings venue with concierge and hospitality services, event planning, operations, top caterers providing exclusively designed banquets and food services, parking spaces for over 2200 cars, its own MRT station, at the crossroads of major expressways taking 15 mins to reach downtown, and 3 mins to Changi International Airport.
Surrounded by greenery, beaches, business parks and famous golf and country clubs, it is a relaxing, and inspirational location for all events. There is no congestion, allowing for very effective events and focused visitors.
Visit www.singaporeexpo.com.sg for more details on our facilities.
