This year’s Food&HotelAsia 2018 concluded on 27 April 2018 with close to 82,000 attendees from over 105 countries and regions attending the 40th edition of the industry event.
3,500 exhibitors from 76 countries/regions and 71 international group pavilions including new entrants Latvia, Tunisia and Qatar were present. The four-day event was attended by a large number of foreign and local dignitaries with Singapore’s Senior Minister of State Dr. Koh Poh Koon kicking off the opening ceremony.
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon Winston Peters; Hungarian ministers – Ms. Katalin Toth, Deputy State Secretary for International Relations, Ministry of Agriculture and Ms. Pana Petra, Deputy Minister of State for Foreign Economic Affairs; the Polish contingent led by Mr. Jacek Bogucki, Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Vietnam Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc also visited their respective country pavilions at FHA2018.
Vietnam’s national food pavilion stretches 200sqm and featured a range of SMEs, including Moocos Vietnam, TH True Milk, Co May and Trung Nguyen Coffee. Accompanying the Vietnamese Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Phuc was Vietnam’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Trần Tuấn Anh.
At the Australia pavilion, we were distracted by Meltique Beef and the long queue of curious visitors who wanted to try the highly marbled beef developed by Hokubee Australia Pty Ltd since 2001 and also 100% owned by Hokubee Co., Ltd in Japan. The Hokubee group’s vision is to contribute to a sustainable supply of high quality and safe beef products to the world by applying a value-adding method. Meltique Beef is processed in Wauchope, New South Wales.
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The Singapore Brands
Lim Lam Thye
One exhibit captivated us so much so we spent the most of our time there. The back story of the various blends of teas kept us interested at Le Jardin, a botanical concept café by Singapore company Lim Lam Thye Pte Ltd at Food&HotelAsia 2018.
Lim Lam Thye, a Singapore-based tea manufacturer with 100 years of heritage in the industry, distributes high-quality teas to various international markets supporting customers from food and beverage manufacturing to HORECA markets segments through its award-winning brands Gryphon Tea Company and Pryce Tea.
Mr Lim Tian Peng, the Marketing Director, Founder and Director, explained to us about Pryce Teas when Dennis and I first stepped into Le Jardin. Tea blends such as Vanda Miss Joaquim (infused with dry orchid petals), Nyonya Kueh (a 2018 blend with top notes of Gula Melaka with lingering undertones of coconut, pandan and glutinous rice), Singapore Sling (a caffeine-free tea inspired by the cocktail originally concocted in Raffles Hotel Singapore) and Collyer Quay piqued our interest.
What can one expect from a tea named Collyer Quay, we thought. Collyer Quay is a liquid gold blend of Lapsang Souchong (my favourite tea) and Assam black tea, peppered with scents reminiscent of Collyer Quay’s early spice trade days to today’s financial hub. It is the winner of 2016 Great Taste Award.
Mr Lim proudly shares that Pryce Teas’ Singapore Collection has been supported by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry and given as gifts that represent the Singapore brand to foreign dignitaries. We can see why. The packaging is in an impressive black and gold colour scheme. The Singapore Collection was first introduced in 2015 during Singapore’s 50th Jubilee Celebrations. A new blend is created every year since then to celebrate fresh icons best representative of the nation’s progressive growth.
The company has also started producing cookies with Singapore flavours to accompany the teas. We got to try the Golden Cereal Prawn and Katong Laksa cookies.
We left Le Jardin after trying the Singapore Sling & Minty Night Mojito tea mocktails, Gryphon Tea Osmanthus Sencha with Passionfruit and Earl Grey Lavender with Strawberry chilled infused teas and sips of PRYCE’s Vanda Miss Joaquim. Let’s just say we were not thirsty for the rest of the day.
Shermay’s Nonya Curry Powder
Shermay Lee, a food consultant, cookbook author and founder-owner of Shermay’s Singapore Fine Food, has launched a new Nonya Curry Powder that can be prepared in six cooking steps. Each box serves 8 to 10 persons.
This made-in-Singapore product also makes an excellent gift to your Singaporean or overseas friends living abroad. The public can buy Shermay’s range of products from the main office at 100 Pasir Panjang Road #04-06, at Bengawan Solo, Culina Dempsey, Grand Hyatt, Honest Bee, Huber’s Butchery, Naiise @ Central, I12 Katong, Millenia Walk, Orchard Gateway, Westgate Mall; Plain Vanilla Bakery, RedMart, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore, Taste Singapore at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 4, Singapore Flyer Gifts, The Tanglin Club, TANGS Orchard, The American Club and Uncle Ho’s Tuckshop.
Apiary Honey for Hope
The Apiary is a Singaporean social enterprise committed to poverty alleviation for Rwandan beekeepers and their communities, by equipping them with improved beekeeping knowledge and hive management skills through comprehensive agriculture-training programme conducted by The Apiary’s team of experts
The hives are located in various regions of Rwanda’s pristine forests. Artificial enhancements are not added and the honey does not undergo processing such as heat or UV light treatment. The Apiary’s honey is pure hillside honey and EU certified.
There are three types of honey – Eucalyptus, White Eucalyptus and Forest. Each are packed in 250g bottles and are priced at S$18 each. Purchase online.
Straits Preserves
Straits Preserves is Singapore’s first homegrown producer of new Asian marmalades. The flavours are inspired by tropical fruit and spices and Signapore’s history and cultural diversity.
It all started when the husband planted lime in the garden and one day Sharon Lee had an overabundance of tiny ripe calamansi limes. Sharon decided to create her own marmalade recipe. After many rounds of refinement, Sharon won The World’s Best International Marmalade Award 2012 in The World’s Original Marmalade Awards in the U.K.
Since then, Sharon has launched many other flavours including the Ginger Garden marmalade which won a star for the Great Taste Awards in 2016. Ginger Garden Marmalade would go very well with my Soda Stream soda water. Great when served cold too. These marmalades can also be enjoyed with shakes and smoothies, teas, cheese pairings, roasts, desserts and pastries.
Today, four different Marmalades are available including Spice Island, Tropical Calamansi (contains lime and pineapple), Ginger Garden (contains ginger, tumeric, cardamom, lime and grapefruit) and Singapore Sling (contains orange, pineapple, lime, lemon and natural cherry flavour).
Order online from Redmart, Tangs, Naiise, The Farm Store and KrisFlyer or visit any of the Singapore stockists.
Rachelle The Rabbit Meadery
Where have I been all this while? I finally got acquainted with Rachelle the Rabbit Meadery at ProWine Asia 2018. If you have not heard, mead has long been associated with Scandinavian culture and Vikings lore, as well as found in works of literature including Beowulf, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. It is one of three important alcoholic beverages besides wine and beer. The primary component of mead is honey. Therefore, many call it a honey wine which is technically incorrect. Wines are made directly from grape juice with a little additive. Water is needed in mead production.
Rachelle The Rabbit Mead use a single source of honey but co-fermented with spices and fruits. An opened bottle can keep for around one to two weeks without any significant change, that’s if you close it properly and put it in the fridge. The higher level of alcohol stabilises the mead better than most other meads in the market which are more like beer.
Drink this mead cold, on the rocks or mixed with spirits or fruits. Rachelle The Rabbit’s Mead come in 500ml bottles. You can purchase them online and enjoy free shipping within Singapore. Flavours come in Bandung, Double Kick, Liquid Gold or Upper Cut and price ranges from S$42 to S$50. Alcohol level ranges from 12 to 15%.
Halifa BoBo
The BoBo Pop Vending Machine was on exhibit at FHA2018. These Bobo Pop Vending Machines are located at SMU School of Law, NTU Crescent Hall, RELC and Changi Airport T2 Skytrain. Some of the ready packed POP with hot cheese dips priced from S$3 and under S$4 include Fishball, Cheese Sausage, Cheese Tofu, Fried Beancurd Roll and Chicken Cheese Ball.
It was at Food&HotelAsia 2018 that I realised that Ha Li Fa Pte Ltd has such a wide variety and range The Fish Cake series has 13 SKUs, 18 SKUs from the deep fried series, 7 SKUs in the meatball series, 8 types of cold cuts, 12 different types of sausages, six SKUs of Dairy products, 5 SKUs in the Sakura fish cake and fish ball series as well as a variety of meat cuts.
I am already thinking of my next home hot pot session.
HAOS and Teochew Restaurant Huat Kee
Teochew Restaurant Huat Kee (1998) Pte Ltd turns 50 serving authentic traditional teochew heritage cuisine at RELC Building. Master Chef Lee Chiang Howe affectionately known as Hao Ge has created seafood ranges without any preservatives and additives that are safe, tasty and easy to prepare. These have a shelf life of at least two years. HAOS two high-tech plants process freshly caught abalones and seafood in Adelaide and Christchurch.
HAOS has also bottled dried scallops, abalone, dried shrimps and other ingredients together so that you can transform your home cooked meal be it instant noodles, vegetables or steamed fish. HAOS XO Abalone Sauce is packaged with a small bowl and teaspoon so you can scoop out the rich flavourful sauce.
At FHA2018, we tasted HAOS ready-to-eat seafood in jars. They are easy to prepare. Just heat up over a slow fire and enjoy a dish of chilli crab, braised fish maw or good grade Australian abalone in light braised Japanese sauce. Each set comes with four jars and you can decide which flavours you want.
I was impressed by the braised fish maw. It is cooked and left to simmer in rich chicken stock. Time to head over to the restaurant and enjoy the traditional Teochew heritage cuisine.
FHA 2020
The next edition of FHA will return in 2020 as two dedicated shows – FHA-HoReCa from 3 to 6 March 2020 and FHA-Food & Beverage from 31 March to 3 April 2020. ProWine Asia (Singapore) 2020 will also be co-located with FHA-Food & Beverage. For more information, please visit www.foodnhotelasia.com.
