Speciality & Fine Food Asia and Restaurant, Pub & Bar Asia Return With a Focus on Innovation – Propelled by Exciting Industry Partnerships

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Expect smart solutions, cutting-edge products and revolutionary concepts during the upcoming edition of Speciality & Fine Food Asia (SFFA) and Restaurant, Pub & Bar Asia (RPB Asia). Both trade shows return for their second year from 17 – 19 July 2018 at Suntec Singapore and are bringing together major F&B, foodservice, hospitality and retail players to discuss the issues facing the industry, how innovation plays a part in ensuring sustainability, and future trends that will impact the way we eat, dine, and live.  

Investor Pitching Series

SFFA has launched a brand-new Investor Pitching Series to provide a practical springboard for companies with exciting, innovative ideas to pitch their concepts and products to a panel of judges comprising F&B owners, retailers, hoteliers and investors, for real-time feedback. The Series is split into two tracks – Innovative F&B Products and Productive Business Solutions for the F&B Industry, the latter designed in collaboration with RAS in order to solicit business and product proposals that will address real-life challenges faced by the F&B industry and enable them to harness new technologies, processes or products to elevate their businesses above the global competition, differentiate their offerings and thrive in the long term. Over 10 finalists will be invited for a boot camp where they can exchange ideas and gain tips from industry experts before delivering their pitches to the judges on 17 & 18 July at SFFA.

e2i’s new ULeap F&B mobile modules

SFFA 2018 will also see the launch of e2i’s new F&B mobile modules on ULeap, a mobile learning app, for quick, bite-sized learning on the F&B industry. “To ensure the growth of Singapore’s F&B industry, e2i is pleased to work closely with SFFA and RPB Asia to provide a dedicated platform for industry players to learn from each other, identify new ways of doing things and create opportunities for working partnerships,” said Mr Gilbert Tan, CEO of e2i.

“In addition, e2i will be launching bite-sized learning modules on our ULeap mobile app dedicated to the F&B sector to facilitate greater learning. We also look forward to forming partnerships with the industry players here today as well to raise their training capabilities via skills upgrading access and opportunities for their workers.”

Fine Food Live

A core component of SFFA, Fine Food Live is the mainstage where chef demos, panel discussions, and more will take place. Chef Isaac Mchale of Michelin-starred The Clove Club – also the highest ranked UK restaurant on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants – will be headlining the show for his first official visit to Singapore. Underscoring the show’s focus on sustainability, Mchale champions the very best of British produce, crafting elegant dishes incorporating inspiration from across the globe. Mchale will present two cooking demos and take part in a panel discussion ‘The Fine Art of (Conscious) Dining’.

Joining Mchale on the panel are local and regional experts such as Chef Julien Royer of two Michelin-starred Odette, also Singapore’s highest ranked restaurant on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants; Ken Loon, Chef-Owner of sustainable seafood restaurant, The Naked Finn; international food journalist Cheryl Tiu and Lennard Yeong – both of whom are World’s 50 Best TasteHunters (digital ambassadors for the 50 Best brand). They will explore the definition of conscious dining and how that fits into the fine dining space.

There will be a total of four panel discussions, thoughtfully designed for solutions-driven discourse among prominent industry thought leaders. Other topics are ‘Global F&B Outlook’, ‘Going Digital’ and ‘From Farm to Kitchen’, that will see representatives from Chope, DHL, Edelman, Ernst & Young, GrabFood, KPMG, Zenith Global and more take the stage.

Always a star attraction are the chef demonstrations that will happen throughout the day. This year, presenting chefs include renowned cookbook author, Christopher Tan, Javad Ahamad from Punjab Grill, and Alexander McKinstry from Viceroy Bali. Chef Neo Jun Hao, the newly-minted winner for Singapore’s Disciples Escoffier Young Talent – the culinary competition for young chefs under the age of 25 – will be conducting his live practice run at the Show before representing the country at the Asia Finals in Hong Kong this September.

Centre Stage

At RPB Asia, Centre Stage will be a flurry of activity as the Show hosts two prestigious industry awards – the inaugural Asia Food Innovation Awards organised by FoodBev Media and theBartender Invitational 2018 organised by The Bar Awards. Both celebrate and recognise excellence and creativity across all aspects of the global food and beverage industry and are testament to the shows’ position and standing as one of the industry’s premier, must-visit events for trade buyers from retail, foodservice, travel, import, wholesale and distribution across Southeast Asia.

  

The Asia Food Innovation Awards is the Asian edition of the UK-based Innovation Awards, which have been running for more than 10 years and are recognised as the most credible and respected awards schemes to influence the international food and beverage industry. For the first time, the inaugural Asia Food Innovation Awards was launched in March 2018, with the winners to be unveiled at Centre Stage on 18 July.

The Bartender Invitational is an intense 3-day competition that will see four Bartender of the Year award winners from four cities battle it out with a series of tough challenges for the ultimate title ofBartender of the Year 2018. Country representatives are Jay Khan (COA, Hong Kong), Kho Chee Kheong “CK” (Coley, Kuala Lumpur), Nikita Matveev (Vida Rica, Mandarin Oriental Macau) andVijay Mudaliar (Native, Singapore). The winner will be announced on 19 July.

A series of bar talks, curated together with The Bar Awards team, will take place alongside masterclasses by experts across speciality spirits, sake, tea and wine, including leading gourmet brands like Kangaroo Island Spirits, Monsoon Tea, and Niigata Prefecture Sake.

SFFA and RPB Asia 2018 will see over 145 exhibitors from Asia, Australia, Europe and North America showcasing thousands of products across categories such as health & functional foods(including organic, free-from products, etc), meat, bar food & snacks, seafood & fish, sauces & condiments, jams & preserves and many more.* A new technology category will also showcase the latest in innovative solutions for the industry.

For the latest updates, please visit the official show websites – Speciality-Asia.com and RPB-Asia.com, and follow the shows on social media. Trade visitors can register here for their free entrance badges.