[Event] Speciality Food & Drinks Asia 2023 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre

Speciality Food & Drinks Asia (SFDA) in its fifth edition, Speciality Coffee & Tea Asia (SCTA), co-located with the second edition of takeaway and delivery exhibition Food2Go (F2G) 2023 held a three-day event from 26th September to 28th September at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre.

Organised by Montgomery Asia, over 240 exhibitors and brands from 16 countries and regions were showcased during the event. The opening ceremony on the first day was graced by Guest-of-Honour Ms Yeo Wan Ling, Member of Parliament for Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC and Director of NTUC U SME and U Women and Family; Christopher McCuin, Managing Director of Montgomery Asia; and Victor Mah, President of the Singapore Coffee Association, alongside other distinguished guests. 

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NTUC and the Singapore Coffee Association was signed, fostering a partnership to create better workplaces for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across all sectors of the coffee industry. The collaborations will focus on the training and development of workers, leadership and business development programmes, and support for the recruitment, training and retention of workers with the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), among other initiatives.

I had the opportunity to visit this event during the second day on the 27th September with Jessie, my blogger friend during our lunch time to tour the event and check out some new products and innovations that were being showcased. 

 Exciting Live Actions and Line-Up of Competitions

Beside getting to try out the different food at the exhibitor booths, there were also a series of panel discussions, live cooking demonstrations and competitions that was ongoing. 

At the Innovation Stage, panel discussions gives invaluable business insights as industry experts from renowned organisations such as Deliveroo, Grab, e2i, A*STAR and many others discuss about the challenges and opportunities in the F&B business landscape, including partnerships in the food delivery industry, the ethics of dining reservations, sustainable packaging technologies and the path towards food security, among many others topics. 

Organised by the Singapore Coffee Association and Speciality Coffee & Tea Asia (SCTA), at the Singapore National Coffee Championship 2023 live stage, top baristas from Singapore compete in four categories - the Singapore National Latte Art Championship, Singapore Cup Tasters Championship, Singapore National Barista Championship and the Singapore National Brewers Cup. The winners in these contests will represent Singapore to join the World Coffee Championships 2024.

  

Jointly organised by Montgomery Asia and the Meat Traders Association Singapore (MTA), the first-ever ASEAN Butchery Competition brought together meat experts who demonstrated their craftsmanship in meat carving and presentation. Participating teams were judged based on their skill and yield; food hygiene and work safety; quality; creativity and display; and cookability of the cuts. This competition saw Butcher Box Singapore clinched the title of ASEAN's finest butcher and a grand prize of S$5,000. Huber's Butchery and Hilton Singapore won the first and second runner-up positions respectively. 

Interesting Exhibitors and Brands

At the booth of Carrara, an award-winning, certified gelato & ice cream manufacturer, we sampled some gelato and their Bluepea Lemongrass Pandan flavour is really unique. Carrara also clinched the 1st runner up position in the Singapore Gelato Championship 2019 and has been listed as Singapore Top Cafes 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 by Wine & Dine Singapore. Definitely a new cafe to check out for me.

We tried some really yummy Pistachio Baklava, handmade using freshly ground premium pistachios and layers of finely kneaded filo pastries, by traditional Turkish artisanal bakers & airflown into Singapore. Good to note that these are also being sold at J Cafe at 45 Syed Alwi. 

Sim Soon Heng develops and manufactures a wide variety of healthy & flavourful sauces, dips, dressings and marinades. Their most popular 4 heavenly kings sauce features Black Pepper Sauce, Salted Egg Sauce, Spicy Seafood Sauce and Chilli Crab Sauce. We sampled the Chilli Crab Sauce with pasta and it really has the spicy kick. 

I must say these algerian dates are really fresh and taste great. The best dates I've ever tasted before. Instead of the usually red dates I've tried, these are more of a translucent brown colour. It's soft and sweet but not too sweet. 

At the Thoughful Food Pte Ltd booth, we savour chilli con carne made with plant-based beef from Thoughtful Food and a dairy-free cheese sauce made with HerBy-Cheese, plant based cheese range. 

The cute sloth logo attracted me to try some coffee concentrates from Wake the Crew. 

The Choya, well known for their traditional Japanese liqueur known as Umeshu, has actually several types of Choya. We really like the refreshing Choya Yuzu.

Mondo Nougat proudly features Australian made range of nougat at their booth. I love it.

ForrestBrew serves us a cup of cold kombucha, I had the Hibiscus Goji Cranberry. What I like is that they also offers customization for door gifts. 

A poster that grab my attention while walking past.

At the Irish Duck Company (IDC) booth, we tasted what is said to be the Best Duck in the World. IDC is the proud sole distributor in Asia for the famed Irish Duck from the Silver Hill Farm. Often referred to as "The Wagyu of Duck", the meat melts easily in the mouth just like the Japanese wagyu beef. 

Yougin Bio, from South Korea introduces ramen noodles for dogs and they comes in so many different flavours. 

Van Houten launches vegan chocolate to attract consumers who with dairy-free option. The vegan range comprises of Van Houten Vegan Saled Caramel (almonds, vegan caramel and Pink Himalayan Salt),  Van Houten Vegan Toasted Coconut Almond (almonds, coconut flakes and a pink of pink Himalayan salt) and Van Houten Vegan Almond & Berries (almonds, cranberries, goji berries and pink Himalayan salt). 

At the Confetti booth, we learnt about the story of how their veggie chips are made of "outcast and ugly" vegetables that does not made it to the shelf of the supermarkets. We tried the Mushroom Chips and they taste amazingly good! 

We also tried some soy milk from Happy Happy Soy Boy. The milk taste is super strong. 

The Taproom featuring a range of finest brews occupies quite a big area. 

Eco-Friendly products.

The last booth we checked out was Craftwerkz, that offers customization to red packets, ez link cards and etc. 

That's my sharing for this year's SFDA and Food2Go exhibition. SFDA and Food2Go will be back from 1st to 3 October 2024 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre and I look forward to attending.

*Disclaimer: Photos without trademark are official photos from the media*

XOXO