REVIEW
REVIEW
24-27 April 2018 Singapore Expo & Suntec Singapore , Singapore www . foodnhotelasia . com
Marking new milestones and rewarding partnerships
FHA celebrated 40 years of excellence in enabling business transformation this year .
FHA addresses some of the most significant changes in the industry such as the widespread penetration of technology that has driven innovations at industry level .
FHA presents a huge opportunity for food exports to Singapore and the wider Asia region .
THE ruby jubilee edition of Food & HotelAsia ( FHA ) celebrated 40 years of excellence in enabling business transformation recently . The event saw 81,896 attendees from more than 105 countries / regions , an increase of 14 % from 2016 . From first-time exhibitors to decades-long partnerships , FHA2018 hosted 3,500 exhibitors from 76 countries / regions and 71 international group pavilions , including new entrants Latvia , Tunisia and Qatar .
Singapore ’ s Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon kicked off the opening ceremony with highlighted key trends in the food and hospitality landscape . New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters ; Hungarian ministers — Katalin Toth , Deputy State Secretary for International Relations , Ministry of Agriculture and Pana Petra , Deputy Minister of State for Foreign Economics Affairs ; the Polish contingent led by Jacek Bogucki , Secretary of State , Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyén Xuân Phúc also visited their respective country pavilions at FHA2018 .
Hayley Horan , New Zealand Trade Commissioner to Singapore , said : “ It is my job to build connections between companies from New Zealand and Singapore that will help them grow across the region . Asia is our largest export destination , and as a country that exports 80 % of our produce to over 100 different markets , it is incredibly important to us . Food & HotelAsia presents the ideal opportunity to build
partnerships in the region that will help us grow in this essential market . I am excited to see how the partnerships and collaborations our companies have built at FHA will develop in the coming months and look forward to bringing more New Zealand companies to FHA in 2020 .”
Harnessing opportunities and growth
Several conferences were held at FHA2018 , which served as a thought leadership platform for the robust exchange of ideas about the industry . Spanning four key tracks — Hotels & Resorts , Food Manufacturing , Central Kitchen , and Food Services — delegates gained several insights and engaged in thoughtful discourse , according to the organiser .
Conference speaker Nick Halla , chief strategy officer , Impossible Foods , who visited the exhibition said : “ We ’ re going to start expanding through Asia really quickly , and FHA is a great place for us to start meeting people and think about how we can introduce our products throughout Asia ’ s food system .”
Across the 119,500sqm of gross exhibition area , several exhibitors gave positive feedback on the event . Speaking to Retail Asia , Paolo Tramelli , marketing manager , Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma , described FHA as “ the most important event for F & B in South-east Asia ”. The Italian food manufacturing company has been participating at FHA for the past five years and Tramelli observed that there is increasing support
74 Retail Asia June / July 2018