FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Inaugural Food & Hotel Digital Week opens up a new online event format

Virtual event uncovers new opportunities for businesses as industry readies to enter new normal

Singapore, 9 June 2020 – The first edition of Food & Hotel Digital Week recorded more than 5,000 industry professionals attending the five-day event which ran from 25-29 May 2020.

Online Product Showcases – digital launchpad for new products, flavours and equipment
Online Product Showcases tailored to France, Malaysia as well as the Top 100 Foods and Top 100 Drinks dominated the first three days of Food & Hotel Digital Week.
More than 300 suppliers combined showcased their homegrown specialities, products and brands. French suppliers and brands including Adventys, Borde Wild Mushrooms, Distillerie Du Perigord, De Buyer Industries, Lactinov, Loc Maria Biscuits, Francois Doucet Confiseur, Rotisol, Sodiaal, St Michel Biscuits and others highlighted milk products, cheeses, pastries, rotisserie ovens and induction cooktops.

Packaged Asian sauces, fresh and frozen seafood, processed foods, combi-ovens, dishwashers and air & surface sterilisers were some of the products showcased by Malaysian brands – CB Frozen Food, HYT Food Industries, Kum Thim Food Industries, MEIKO Clean Solutions (SEA), Medklinn International, SKS Food Industries, S&P Industries and many others.

Popular food and beverage products in the Top 100 Foods and Top 100 Drinks highlights were frozen food, healthy snacks, plant-based meats, coffee, tea, juices and alcoholic beverages. Beyond Meat, Brauhaus Altenkunstadt Andreas Leik, Foodsterr, Giffard, Gryphon Tea Co., Huber’s, Monin Asia, Mulwarra Export, Nespresso, Omnipork, Opus Verticals, Or Tea?, Siam Original Food Co., Sterilgarda Alimenti and Yocha Kombucha were some of the brands featured.

Key insights gleaned from the first three days:

• The hotel sector was the most engaging buyer group for the ‘Country Pavilion’ Online Product Showcase. Many were looking for food-tech related products (33%) and disposables (17%)
• Distributors were the most engaged buyers for the ‘Top 100 Foods’ Online Product Showcase
• Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia were top engaging regions for ‘Top 100 Drinks’ Online Product Showcase

A new way for food in a post COVID-19 world

COVID-19 has disrupted our lives, changed the way we conduct business and interrupted supply chains. The crisis has also forced us to rethink food security, question the notion of farm to fork and even sustainable food innovation. The industry webinar series on 28 May, which covered a range of topics from Food Security, Business Intelligence to Food-Tech and Sustainability and Foodservice, saw more than 1,500 unique attendees (45% webinar attendance rate) from over 20 countries and regions, and more than 2,600 social views.

Top three most-attended webinars:

• COVID-19 Reality Check: Facts for Food Intelligence – Tim Hill, Key Accounts Director, South East Asia for GlobalData presented data on the pandemic’s impact on the global economy and foodservice sector
• Accelerating Change – COVID-19, Investment and the Food Vertical – Moderated by Luke Tay, Principal Futurist from Singapore Food Agency, the panel featured global think tanks from AgFunder Asia, Agrimax Ventures, Big Idea Ventures, Dole Packaged Food and GROW who delved into how the pandemic has impacted food security and investment in new food ventures
• Nutrition, Trends & FMCG’s – The founders of Thought for Food and ID Capital spoke about the food trends emerging from the pandemic, such as increased interest in functional foods or sustainable brands; how food producers may drive new product launches and how generation Z is defining new emerging consumer patterns. The session was moderated by Nicole Fall, Founder of Asian Consumer Intelligence

“The Food & Hotel Digital Week Industry Webinar was an excellent event and ran very smoothly. I enjoyed all the sessions, especially the virtual cocktails at the end! It was a great forum for making connections and sharing insights with the industry on the impact COVID-19 has had on the foodservice sector. Kudos to the organisers for arranging an excellent alternative to a live conference,” said Mr Tim Hill, Key Accounts Director, South East Asia, GlobalData.

Rounding up Food & Hotel Digital Week was a Live Webinar Day on 29 May, which recorded  428 unique attendees from 24 countries and regions who tuned in to catch guest speakers from Google Hong Kong, World Association of Chefs’ Societies and the Malaysian Association of Hotels share on online sourcing and digital marketing; and updates on the Malaysian tourism, food and hospitality industry.

“We are very pleased with the results of the first Food & Hotel Digital Week, it has proven that our digital initiatives were effective in helping our food and hospitality community come together, create value and hopefully come up with new ideas to help transform their businesses moving forward. I believe these virtual events are here to stay and in time will truly complement our physical events to help businesses  in their recovery and growth post-pandemic,” said Mr Ian Roberts, Managing Director - Hospitality, Food & Beverage, Informa Markets.

“We are excited to have launched Saladplate.com during this first Food & Hotel Digital Week with the support of industry leaders. This new format has proven to be a very direct and efficient way for globally minded brands to reach into relevant partners in local markets across Asia. The success from our first Digital Week has given us the confidence this is the right collaboration to support our community for many years to come. I very much look forward to the next edition in July where we will unveil new and exciting contents.” said Mr Dave Chan, Founder – Saladplate.com, Vice President – Digital Business & Advanced Analytics, Informa Markets. 

“Thank you for the fruitful showcase at Food & Hotel Digital Week “COVID-19 & The Future of Food” Industry Webinar. We were pleased to be a part of it, it was a great platform to promote our brand and engage with the audience. Thank you to all our partners for making this happen!” commented Hello ATT, a technology provider of automated temperature screening solutions, sponsor of Food & Hotel Digital Week.

Another sponsor, Meiko Clean Solutions (South East Asia), a supplier of commercial dishwashing, cleaning and disinfection and food waste systems, added, “Thank you for having us on the showcase of Food & Hotel Digital Week. The session opens many more doors for us and we would love to join in the future.”

The featured products and recorded webinar videos will be made available on Saladplate.com in the coming weeks. 

For more facts on Food & Hotel Digital Week, please see Appendix 1 below. Photos of the event can be downloaded here.

The next Food & Hotel Digital Week will be held from 13 – 17 July 2020, more details will be announced at a later date. For more information, please visit: https://bit.ly/3f7hvJT. 

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