INTERNATIONAL COFFEE, TEA AND CONFECTIONERY SHOWCASE DRAWS RECORD NUMBER OF VISITORS
The recent Café Asia 2017, International Coffee & Tea Expo (ICT Expo) 2017 and Sweets & Bakes Asia 2017 drew a crowd of some 11,000 visitors with a multisensorial showcase of ‘Firsts’. The concurrent shows were launched by Guest-of-Honour, Mr. Lee Yi Shyan, Member of Parliament of East Coast GRC at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore on March 2, 2017.
The two exhibitions are held concurrently to offer the ideal one-stop convenient hub for professionals to source for supplies and explore business opportunities with both regional and international counterparts. As the only trade and consumer exhibition in Southeast Asia catering to the café, coffee and tea communities, Café Asia and the ICT Expo brought together café owners and managers, coffee and tea exporters as well as distributors and suppliers of caférelated machinery and equipment in a dynamic marketplace.
The well-received Café Asia and ICT Expo series first launched in 2013 and the Sweets & Bakes series which was introduced a year later, together present the largest showcase dedicated to the team coffee and bakery industries in Singapore and the region. This dynamic B2B platform is sought after by key decision makers as a sourcing destination for their café needs and to explore new collaborations and opportunities in a country where the number of specialty coffee drinkers has increased over the years.
Spanning 5,000 square metres this year, Café Asia 2017, ICT Expo 2017 and Sweets & Bakes Asia hosted 168 exhibitors from all around the world, namely, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
Visitors discovered new sources and a wide array of supplies and cutting-edge equipment for cafes and bakeries, from coffee beans originating from traditional and non-traditional coffee-producing countries, tea leaves, taste-elevating baking ingredients, new exciting brews like Expresso Martini by Justin Metcalf and delectable gelato flavours.
Seven Fast-paced National Competitions
Top baristas, tea masters and bakers converged at the shows to contend for national titles and to represent Singapore in the world-level championships. New to this year’s event is the inaugural Tea Masters Cup Singapore 2017, where Singapore crowned its first-ever Tea Master to compete at the prestigious Tea Masters Cup International 2017.
The National Coffee Championships rolled out a new competition format, the Singapore Coffee in Good Spirits Championships 2017. The championship celebrates
barista’s creativity in the marriage between coffee and alcohol through innovative beverage recipes. The winner of this competition will go on to represent Singapore in the annual World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, held later this year in Budapest, Hungary from 13 – 15 June.
The Singapore Bakery & Confectionery Championship 2017 welcomed top bakers and confectioners who showcased their skills to create the most delicious and delightful breads and pastries. The bakers from some of the most reputable hotels and bakeries in Singapore kneaded, baked and worked magic with their creations, making them into stunning displays of edible art.
