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The 23rd edition of Food Hospitality World (FHW) opened to business at KTPO Whitefield in Bengaluru on June 12, 2014. The three-day B2B food and hospitality tradeshow, held from June 12 to 14, was inaugurated by Ugo Ciarlatani, consul general of Italy in Mumbai. Other dignitaries present at the inauguration were R Anand, vice president, The Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IICCI); Cesare Saccani, vice president, IICCI; Mel Shah, managing director, Hannover Milano Fairs India to name a few. Also present at the exhibition was B Venkatesh, member, steel consumer’s council, ministry of steel, Government of India who spoke on the significant contribution made by such trade exhibitions to the food and hospitality industry in India. “The whole experience of the FHW exhibition was good in terms of the quality of exhibitors. FHW is the perfect one stop platform for B2B networking and also gives a big boost to the investors in the food and hospitality industry. The exhibition has managed to live up to the expectations of Bengaluru,” opined Venkatesh. The highlight of the exhibition was a series of maiden events this time.
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FHW exhibition in association with IICCI hosted the Ospitalita Italiana awards for the first time on the inaugural day. Ospitalità Italiana, an initiative which aims to certify authentic and quality Italian restaurants globally, was developed by Unioncamere in collaboration with – Federazione Italiana Pubblici Esercizi – and with the support of IS.NA.R.T. – Istituto Nazionale Ricerche Turistiche. At the 23rd FHW exhibition, the awards felicitation was done by prominent Italian diplomats and members of the IICCI. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Ciarlatani stated, “India and Italy have the same commitment to promote food and food machinery. The demand for Italian food is increasing in India. However, India needs to work on simplifying the regulations regarding labelling of food products. India needs to attract international companies in sectors where the country is not a producer like sparkling water. We want to increase our presence in India and India can export more products to Italy.”
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Another debut event at the exhibition this year was Hospitality Trailblazers, held on the second day. The hospitality industry in Southern India has served up many iconic hotel brands that have set benchmarks and blazed a trail for others to follow. At this year’s exhibition, 12 of these Hospitality Trailblazers to have made a unique distinction in the southern hospitality space were honoured. The honours were given under five categories – Sustainability, Wellness, Heritage, MICE and Homegrown brands. CGH Earth, The Windflower Resorts Spa and The Green Path were felicitated with the honour under Sustainability; Our Native Village and Soukya under Wellness; St Mark’s Hotel Bangalore, The Taj West End Bangalore and ITC Windsor Bengaluru under Heritage; Lulu International Convention Centre and Hyderabad International Convention Centre under MICE; and Orange County Luxury Resorts and Abad Hotels and Resorts under Homegrown Brands.
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Apart from these special events, FHW also hosted Hospitality Think Tank, a panel discussion on the topic – The business of catering: what’s on the table? The discussion highlighted and addressed some of the issues plaguing institutional catering and hotel banqueting ranging from manpower issues to efficient waste management practices and the challenges of sourcing ingredients among many. On the final day, another event that made its foray for the first time into the exhibition was the Cornitos Food Bloggers Meet Season Two, a competition wherein food bloggers showcased their culinary skills by creating different kinds of innovative toppings on nachos. The competition was divided into three rounds and witnessed participation from 30 food bloggers. Each round witnessed participation from 10 bloggers and went on for a duration of an hour. The first round was judged by Chef Vicky Ratnani, corporate chef at Aurus and Nido, cookbook author and TV show host. The second round was judged by Chef Ramaswamy V and the third round by Chef Varun Bajaj, application chef, Rational. Speaking about the competition, Vikram Agarwal, director, Greendot Health Foods stated, “Through this competition we want to create awareness about healthy snacking and the use of nutritious dressing. Overall the competition was good and we got a good response.”
The three-day exposition witnessed exhibitors coming from different segments of the food and hospitality industry like F&B, interiors, kitchen equipment, housekeeping, bakery to name a few. Spread across 10,000 sq mtrs of KTPO, Whitefield, the exhibition hosted approximately 200 national and international participants this time and consisted of theme pavilions from different countries. The exhibition aims at providing solutions to various industry-related problems faced by hoteliers, restaurateurs, facility managers, prospective students and distributors. Organised by Global Fairs & Media – a joint venture between Hannover Milano Fairs India and The Indian Express, this year’s edition in Bengaluru set new benchmarks through these special events.
