DRMumbai: UBM India, India’s leading B2B event’s organizer, inaugurated the first edition of Food and Hotel India (FHIn) Expo at Sahara Star in Mumbai today. The inauguration of the preview expo was marked by the presence of Param Kannampilly, Chairman & Managing Director, Concept Hospitality; Manjit Singh Gill, Corporate Chef, ITC & President IFCA; Vernon Cohelo – Chef, President WICA; Thomas Schlitt, Managing Director, Messe Dusseldorf India; Paul March, Managing Director, UBM AllWorld; Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India and Abhijit Mukherjee, Group Director, UBM India amidst an industry gathering.
On from September 5 to 7, the show belongs to the top-tier category of over 20 market leading food and hospitality shows across 12 countries, organised in Asia by event organizers UBM Allworld. These include Food and Hotel Asia Singapore, HOFEX and Hotelex, among others.
The three-day Indian edition of the expo showcased premium products and services from around the world, presented new ideas and solutions for an industry looking to take the next step to grow and enrich their business. It served as an opportunity for industry professionals to forge alliances with leading Indian and international hospitality chains, consultants, suppliers and investors, while networking with premier buyers and decision makers handpicked for their purchasing power.
Speaking at the maiden launch of the much awaited FHIn, Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India said, “In India, the food sector has emerged as a high-growth and high-profit sector due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. Our country has great scope for worldwide trade in the agricultural industry too. Besides this, a high percentage of the young and working population that is well-travelled has double incomes and is experimental as well as tech savvy, is eating out more than their predecessors, drives the growth of the food services, tourism and hospitality market. The initiative behind FHIn18 is to provide a platform for India’s food, hospitality and tourism industry to establish business opportunities for international brands. It offers companies the best channel to explore the great market potential available in Asia and helps customers connect with the largest gathering of decision makers, specifiers and end users in India.”
In its first year, FHIn witnessed over 60 exhibitors, some of whom include FnS, Feather Touch, Pascati Chocolates, Saimex Foods, Varahi, DL Corporation, Pam Hygiene, Metal Fabricator of India, Ace Technologies & More among others. The expo also saw the participation of countries including Spain, USA, Thailand, Turkey, Switzerland, Canada, Peru and the UK.
The first day of the expo witnessed the ‘Hospitality Strategy Summit’ which in association with Odd Box aimed at developing optimal strategies towards building a better working culture, and to solve challenges faced during the development of the same.
The summit comprised 4 tract events in 1 day, covering key topics of the hospitality industry such as – HOSPITALITY BEGINS AT HOME – Creating a thriving company culture; THE RISE OF THE SHARING ECONOMY – Has the hotel industry got a new ‘frenemy’; BRAND, OPERATIONS OR DESIGN – Who rules the roost?; EMBRACING THE HEALTH CONSCIOUS TRAVELER to name a few.
The expo also saw ProWein India, a three-day event with a range of seminars, wine and spirit tastings, discussions and presentations focusing on sensory perception for wine, spirit and hospitality professionals. Prowein India is organised by UBM India & Messe Dusseldorf in Association with WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) & All things NICE which is the world’s leading knowledge sharing platform for wine and spirits.
Day two and three have a line-up of events such as a Hospitality Leaders Roundtable with the leaders from the hospitality industry covering the topic on the mid-market segment, the future hospitality pipeline in India and various challenges that the industry is currently facing.
The expo will also see a MASTERCLASS on Kitchen Planning and Designing. This Masterclass will be an interactive session that will explain ideal kitchen design processes for Back and Front of House Kitchens, design criteria for optimisation of kitchen space, high energy efficiency and food safety.
One of the highlights of the show will be the ‘International Culinary Classic’ – supported and organized by IFCA (India Federation of Culinary Association) and WICA (West India Culinary Association), it is an inaugural Culinary Challenge that will showcase elaborate dishes by top chefs categorizing into ‘Chocolate Showpiece’, ‘Plated Appetizers’, ‘Individual Plated Desserts’, ‘Bread Display’ and ‘Live Cooking’. To enhance the live cooking challenge, FHIn has partnered with INTERPORC and USA Egg and Poultry Council for ingredients from Spain and US. Apart from these features, FHIn will witness business sessions and panel discussions on Vendor Hotel Relationships and seminars on Houskeeping.
