Overall, the returns-on-investment from THAIFEX-World of Food Asia has exceeded our expectations. Next year, we hope to return with more companies.”
ASEAN food industry leaders convening at World of Food Safety ConferenceParallel to THAIFEX-World of Food Asia, the ASEAN Food Industry Thought Leaders Panel brought together global opinion leaders and food industry experts sharing their views on building capabilities to overcome food safety and security challenges, both domestically and internationally.
The speakers comprised of top industry leaders, including PojAramwattananont, President of Sea Value Company Ltd and Hester Chew, Group CEO of McDonalds. They were joined by Yves Rey, Chairman, Global Food
Safety Initiative (GFSI) and Corporate Quality General Manager, Danone Group, France, as well as PisanPongsapitch, Deputy Secretary General of The National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards, and moderator John Spink, Director, Food Fraud Initiative (USA).
Attendees to the ASEAN Food Industry Thought Leaders Panel included many C-level executives from the Thai as well as the wider Asian food & beverage industry.
In addition, the 2nd World of Food Safety Conference presented a strong panel of speakers over 2 days, presenting their research and case studies, as well as exchanging valuable insights with overseas delegates.
In addition to thelocal specialists, the conference featured 15 senior international experts who covered an extensive range of Food Safety related topics including:
- AEC 2015 impact on global and regional food scenario, Supplier Management, Food Safety and Recalls
- Achieving GFSI certification in developing countries
- Microbial contamination control and Product Counterfeiting as a logistics disruption threat to a supply chain
- Balancing Sustainable Practices and Profitability and many more industry relevant topics.
The conference once again set high standards for in-depth interactions and high level know-how sharing among leading food safety specialists and practitioners.
Competitions Galore
The 3rd Thailand Ultimate Chef Challenge proved to be another outstanding success at this year’s THAIFEX-World of Food Asia.
The competition, which has grown from strength to strength, boasted the highest number of competitors to date.
With more than 500 chefs, the ratio of international to local participants was a close 30:70 ratio this year.
This included 153 overseas competitors from Australia, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Slovakia, Vietnam and 356 Thai participants from 20 provinces.
Says Willment Leong, Organising Chairman, “This competition has become one of the most important culinary competitions in Thailand. The chefs are looking forward to joining this competition not just to win, but also to learn. With world-class judges with us, this has created a very positive atmosphere.”
Roasters’ Choice Award
At the 2nd Roasters’ Choice Award, 56 entries of beans were submitted by coffee producers from Asia.
The panel of coffee specialists included, Michael De Renovard, TutiHahanahMochtar, Hide Nishimura, Felix Wong and Chen Chia-Sheng, were in search for the best coffee beans in Asia.
Head Judge Michael De Renovard explains, “This year’s submissions go to show the diversity and potential of the coffee bean growing industry in Asia. Each has its own distinctive characteristics, and will make an interesting cup of coffee.”
THAIFEX – World of Food Asia 2015 will return to IMPACT from 20 to 24 May 2015.
Source: press release
