THAIFEX attracts buyers from 125 countries

TAGGED as Asia’s most influential food and beverage exhibition, THAIFEX – World of Food Asia, saw increased participation at this year’s event, held at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre from 22 – 26 May. In five days, the organisers noted 21,326 local visitors and 6,035 from overseas, totaling 27,361 buyers from 125 countries. The show’s success was evident by its growth of 15% from the previous year, with an estimated spot sales of USD$15 million.

A significant feature of this edition is the very first alliance with Italy, which was represented by 67 companies occupying about 612 sqm of exhibition space.

“Asia marks huge potential for growth and is a very important market for Italy. THAIFEX – World of Food Asia is an international fair and a gateway to Asia. We are very pleased with this partnership and hope to double the participation by 2015,” said Daniele Rossi, general director of the Italian food and beverage association, Federalimentare.

Another first was the launching of The World of Seafood, a professional trade fair catering to the fresh and frozen seafood industry. Seafood is one of the key products in the ASEAN region, where it accounts for 50% of global food production.

“THAIFEX is one of the biggest food fairs in Asia. We hope that THAIFEX will be the door to the world that will push Thailand to be the kitchen of the world,” said Poj Aramwattananont, president of the Thai Frozen Food Association. “We are one of the biggest in the world for food processed products. We are ready for all kinds of foodexport, as we are equipped for sanitation, food safety and consistent supply.” 

Peter Ooi, owner of beverage firm Cozzo Food Industries Sdn Bhd, added, “I  have been exhibiting since its first year and will continue to do so. This is a very international exhibition with an international profile of visitors and buyers. I have been able to increase the export market for my business, meeting visitors from Middle East, Africa, India and as far as Canada.”

Competitions and conferences

The Thailand Ultimate Chef Challenge, organised by Thailand Chefs Association and Koelnmesse set the benchmark for culinary competitions in Thailand. A competition endorsed by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS), this second edition saw close to 500 participants, including competitors from 13 provinces in Thailand. The rest of the competitors travelled from Cambodia, Israel, Myanmar, Taiwan and Turkey.

Willment Leong, organising chairman of the Thailand Ultimate Chef Challenge, commented, “In just one year, we have seen strong growth in the culinary skills of the Thai chefs, and more are using Thai ingredients in the competition. THAIFEX is no longer a competition venue but a platform for Thai chefs to compete, learn and educate themselves on the many ways of using Thai ingredients.”

This official first collaboration with the Barista Association of Thailand saw a concerted initiative to raise the bar of coffee standards with the inaugural Roasters’ Choice  Award Competition. Fourteen coffee producers from Asia submitted their beans, where top quality judges locally and overseas graded the coffee beans on the quality.

“Coffee is very new to Asia as we traditionally drink tea in this part of the world,” said Meechai Amornpathanakul, president of Barista Association of Thailand. “However, the coffee drinking culture is growing very fast in some parts of Asia. We created the Roasters’ Choice Award so that coffee bean producers and baristas have a platform to understand the product and tAir More Uptempo