Speciality Food & Drinks Asia returns with its 5th edition

GUESTS can visit a world of innovation at Speciality Food & Drinks Asia (SFDA) — Southeast Asia’s premier trade show for artisan, gourmet, and fine food and drink products and solutions. Held from Sept. 26 to 28 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore and co-located with the second edition of takeaway and delivery exhibition Food2Go, SFDA is expected to host up to 8,000 trade visitors and over 200 exhibitors and brands from across the world.

SFDA brings together trade professionals from the entire F&B industry, including restaurants, pubs and bars; meat and poultry; and speciality coffee and tea, to explore new products, create business opportunities, and share solutions to overcome industry challenges. A key focus this year is on embracing the digital shift in areas such as food service, packaging and production.

Visitors will be able to experience product showcases at the showgrounds, witness celebrity chefs such as MasterChef Singapore Season 4 contestant Mandy Kee and Executive Chef Victor Loy conduct cooking demonstrations at the Fine Food Live Stage, attend engaging panel discussions at the Innovation Stage, and taste the finest and newest brews at the Tap Room.

The lineup of exhibitors includes up-and-coming products and brands such as Limwood Gourmet, Irish Duck Company, Jeonbuk Institute for Food-Bioindustry, Unox, Isle Grocer & Co, LAP Spirits, and Allpress Espresso, among many others.

On top of a Singapore Pavilion showcasing some of the finest local products and suppliers, SFDA will also feature international exhibitors from 15 other countries including Belgium, China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Vietnam.

Food tech investor Big Idea Ventures (BIV) will be hosting the international finals of the first-ever Big Idea Food Competition to identify the best innovations in alternative protein. The grand prize is a $200,000 investment package and automatic inclusion into Big Idea Venture’s Cohort #8 accelerator program.

The first-ever ASEAN Butchery Competition, hosted by Montgomery Asia and the Meat Traders Association Singapore (MTA), will bring together meat professionals from the region to showcase their workmanship skills in meat carving and presentation, for the title of ASEAN’s best butcher and a grand prize of S$5,000.

Returning to the event is the Singapore National Coffee Championship, organized by the Singapore Coffee Association in partnership with Speciality Coffee & Tea Asia. Singapore’s top baristas will compete in the Singapore National Latte Art Championship, Singapore Cup Tasters Championship, Singapore National Barista Championship and the Singapore National Brewers Cup, with the winners representing Singapore in the World Coffee Championships 2024.

To foster knowledge transfer within the industry, panel discussions will provide insights crucial to innovation, business growth, and sustainability. Industry leaders from organizations such as Grab, Deliveroo, foodpanda, Association of Catering Professionals Singapore, APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture, and A*STAR will delve into topics such as partnerships in the food delivery industry; the ethics of dining reservations; the future of specialty food retail and distribution; and the path towards food security, among many others.

SFDA will also witness the industry bringing the latest products and offerings to the table, and brand-new product launches by a myriad of exhibitors. These include LEI food&drinks’ organic and premium not-from-concentrate juices; Isle Grocer & Co.’s selection of hams, pate, olive oil and herbs; Wake the Crew’s cold brew coffee concentrate sachets; Choya Umeshu South East Asia’s extra smooth choya; Noomoo’s artisanal oat milk; VektroPack’s new recyclable packaging; Ecospec NovelTech’s beverage treatment products; Sanz Pte Ltd.’s new hygienic cutlery dispenser; and Smart Minds Holdings Limited’s SaaS logistics solutions; and many more.

Lucky visitors have a chance to win a specialty goods hamper (S$200) and a brand-new Thermomix TM6 (worth S$2,550).