DRMumbai: UBM India, India’s leading B2B events organiser, successfully concluded the first edition of Food and Hotel India (FHIn) Expo from September 5 to 7 in Mumbai.
The Indian edition of the global food and hospitality show presented premium products and services from around the world along with numerous sessions on relevant topics
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.
Aimed at providing a platform for India’s food, hospitality and tourism industries to establish business opportunities with international brands, the event received a great response from exhibitors and visitors alike. It also helped improve networking within the industry like never before.
The ‘preview’ Expo was inaugurated by Param Kannampilly, Chairman and MD, Concept Hospitality; Manjit Singh Gill, Corporate Chef, ITC & President, India Federation of Culinary Association (IFCA); Vernon Cohelo, Chef, President WICA and Thomas Schlitt, MD, Messe Dusseldorf India in the presence of Paul March, MD, UBM AllWorld; Yogesh Mudras, MD, UBM India and Abhijit Mukherjee, Group Director, UBM India.
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 and Ace Technologies, among others. It also saw the participation of 10 countries including Spain, USA, Thailand, Turkey, Switzerland, Canada, Peru and UK, among others.
Yogesh Mudras 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. A high percentage of the young working population with double income is eating out more than their predecessors and drives the growth of the food services, tourism and hospitality markets. The response that we received at FHIn 2018 was par excellence. A lot of business associations were made.”
Selami Akgul, Export Representative, Duru Bulgur, Turkey said, “This is the first time that we are in India. We received a good response for our Bulgur dishes at FHIn. We had visitors and distributors from the catering and hospitality background. We hope to convert it into solid business relationships and look forward to venturing into the Indian market”
Day one of the Expo witnessed the ‘Hospitality Strategy Summit’ held in association with Odd Box, aimed at developing optimal strategies towards building a better working culture and solving challenges faced during the development of the same. The Summit covered 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?’; and ‘Embracing The Health Conscious Traveller’.
The Expo also saw ProWein India, a three-day event with a range of seminars, wine and spirit tastings and discussions focusing on sensory perception for wine, spirit and hospitality professionals.
Prowein India was organised by UBM India and Messe Dusseldorf in association with WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) and All Things Nice, the world’s leading knowledge sharing platform for wine and spirits.
Day two and three had a line up of interesting events such as a Hospitality Leaders Roundtable that covered topics like the mid-market segment, the future hospitality pipeline in India and various challenges that the industry is currently facing.
The Expo had a masterclass on Kitchen Planning and Designing, an interactive session that explained ideal kitchen design processes for back and front of the house kitchens, design criteria for optimisation of kitchen space, high-energy efficiency and food safety. FHIn witnessed business sessions and panel discussions on Vendor Hotel Relationships and seminar on House Keeping.
Another highlight was the ‘International Culinary Classic’ – supported and organised by IFCA and WICA (West India Culinary Association). The inaugural Culinary Challenge showcased elaborate dishes by top chefs categorised into ‘Chocolate Showpiece’, ‘Plated Appetizers’, ‘Individual Plated Desserts’, ‘Bread Display’ and ‘Live Cooking’. To enhance the live cooking challenge, FHIn partnered with INTERPORC and USA Egg and Poultry Council for ingredients from Spain and US.
