 The five specialized shows will make it the largest edition with 87,000 square meters of exhibition area spread across nine halls. More than 2,600 exhibitors from 65 countries or regions and 52 international group pavilions will exhibit at a single location and welcome over 54,000 government, business and trade visitors from over 90 countries and regions including India. “We have been getting a lot of buyers from India. Last show in 2010 saw around 500 buyers and this time we are trying to get 800," Stephen Tan said.
For this year's edition 22 Indian exhibitors have already registered including Field Fresh Foods, Hospitality First, King Metal Works and Raj Tandoor Corporation. However the number so far falls short of 27 in the previous edition in 2010, says Stephan Tan. Admitting that they had not been successful in tapping the Indian market so far, he said,
"We have still not managed to find enough Indian manufacturers and exhibitors to participate in the exhibition. It is a failure on our part that we have not been able to market the exhibition well here."
Visitors to these five events will be from varied segments of the hospitality and food service industry, including airlines, railways, bakeries, hotels, restaurants, departmental stores, logistics, spas, government bodies, trade associations, furnishings and many more.
There will be a series of competitions where culinary chefs and pastry masters will vie for the title of Asia’s best. FHA2012 Culinary Challenge, FHA2012 Imperial Challenge (held once every four years to reveal highest levels of Chinese banqueting techniques and artistry), FHA Barista Challenge– which seeks to boost baristas as a professional career and cultivate Asian appreciation of specialty coffee; and the Asian Pastry Cup – the official pre-selection platform to the World Pastry Cup held in Lyon- France, will make an exciting arena for the contestants in these fields.
SES is mostly banking on digital media, including e-mail marketing and social media to promote the event in India. When asked if India might host a similar show in future with their collaboration he said, “We have not yet considered bringing the exhibition here because India already has a similar show, Aahar." He added that the demand was not so strong here.
The premier event for Asia’s wine and spirits industry professionals, Wine & Spirits Asia 2012 (WSA2012), also returns in Singapore Expo from 17 – 20 April 2012. Co-branded with FHA2012, the 12th edition of WSA will have a stronger presentation of international wines and spirits with 165 exhibitors from 25 countries. Five group pavilions from Australia, Austria, France, Italy and Singapore will showcase a wide array of products and several new labels. For more information, visit www.winespiritsasia.com.
The biennial WSA Wine Challenge will also be held a month before the Wine and Spirits Asia 2012, on 21-22 March 2012, adding excitement to the show with the presence of award winning wines. Now in its fifth edition, the WSWC is being organised with a panel of distinguished international judges comprising of reputable wine journalists, sommeliers and educators etc. The jury will be headed by Joel Payne – the Europe-based American wine expert, writer and editor of the popular annual German wine guide, Gault Millau. Subhash Arora, President of the Indian Wine Academy has been invited to be on the judging panel for yet another time, representing India.
FHA and WSA are both well respected international shows in food, wine and hospitality sector and usually the professionals in these areas in India eagerly await this event. Now would be the time to make arrangements or plan on participating as exhibitors or sending samples for judging in the WSA Wine Challenge. |