Culinary Art Food Expo 2018 opens

By Safna Malik

The three-day Culinary Art Food Expo (CAFÉ) 2018, organised by The Chef’s Guild of Lanka, began yesterday at the BMICH for its eighteenth consecutive year to provide opportunities to young talented chefs to improve their culinary art skills, and for industrial professionals to showcase their product and services.    

The exhibition was sponsored by Silvermill Natural Beverages, Prima Ceylon, Pelwatte Dairy Industries, Stassen Exports, International Distillers, Nestle Lanka, Tastty, 7 Star Serendib Flour Mills, Keels Food Products, Litro Gas Lanka, Delmege Forsyth and Company, CDB Events and Travels, Aitken Spence Hotels, Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya, Mercantile Investment Finance, and the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association. 

Industry professionals and exhibitors from food and beverage sectors will be showcasing their products, services and hospitality equipment at the event. 

In addition, culinary art competitions will be held alongside of the exhibition during the three days of the expo. This culinary art expo is the only event where over 2000 culinary professionals meet under one roof, and, for the first time ever in the history of culinary art food exhibitions, it allows the public to witness and take part in fresh competitions such as the Sri Lanka Festive Buffet Culinary Hotel Championship, 7 Star Master Baker of the Year, Sri Lanka Artistic Creative Pastry Chef, Sri Lanka Arrack and Vodka Cocktail Championship, Scan Sunquick mocktail competition and the Master Family Cooking live competition. Another introductory feature was the live cookery program on Butchery, which was specially sponsored by the Australian Trade Commission. 

The CAFÉ 2018 consists of 500 chefs representing Sri Lanka’s top listed resorts, restaurants and hotels from around the country participating at the competition. Participants need to be qualified in 6 classes across all disciplines of the culinary arts in order to win the title. The winners will be chosen by a panel of local and foreign judges from Australia, Thailand and Singapore during this three-day exhibition. CAFÉ is widely recognised as the country’s most prestigious international competition that has a strong emphasis on the promotion of culinary excellence, and it is Sri Lanka’s largest culinary competition endorsed by the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (WACS). 

 This will be an ultimate challenge for young chefs as well as professionals at the exhibition.  

Addressing the event, Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs Minister John Amaratunga stated that according to the economic value added, food and tourism is in a dropped-off level and having a culinary art food exhibition will have a potential to open a new front here in our growing tourism industry. 

It will be a good opportunity for the younger generation to follow the culinary field and boost tourism to a new height. This year, over 600 chefs are representing 160 star-class hotels, restaurants, hospitals and the armed forces. 

Sri Lanka, on the global map as a destination, is not only known for its breath taking beauty and culture, but also the cuisine. The Culinary Art Food Expo will be an ideal platform for chefs island-wide to showcase their culinary talents. Their talent will be rewarded with gold, silver and bronze medals.   

Chefs Guild of Sri Lanka Chairman Gerard Mendis highlighted: “Dinning is an important part of our daily lives. CAFÉ features the finest chefs from a cross section of the industry under different themes. CAFÉ is constantly innovating and is striving to promote culinary art and its allied trading platform to an international level by the year 2020.”

WACS Senior Culinary Judge Bernd Uber expressed his appreciation for taking part in this event as he said: “Sri Lanka has stood up for professionalism in the culinary field. No other country has come up with such competitions to uplift skills of young cooks and chefs in the world, and I’m delighted to be a part of the competition.”