Three years of pandemic failed to dampen the spirit of those involved in the food industry. It merely limited their movements at its height, but now that it has been declared officially over and everyone can resume their normal lives again, the food industry has totally bounced back. It was pulsating with life, energy and enthusiasm when the World Food Expo 2023, the 2023 Philippine Culinary Cup, World Chefs Asian Presidents Forum 2023, and World Chefs’ Global Chefs Challenge-Semi-finals Asia 2023 opened at the SMX Convention Center and the World Trade Center on 2 August 2023.
These co-located events drew in crowds of exhibitors and guests (food manufacturers, importers, food business owners and entrepreneurs, students, culinary professionals) as well as participants in overwhelming manner. There was excited banter among friends and colleagues in the food industry.
The events also bought in some of the country’s biggest and brightest names in the food industry and chefs from Asia and beyond to conduct the culinary competitions and serve as judges, too.
The 2023 Philippine Culinary Cup, in particular, had become a tradition and a springboard for young talents to shine, as it had both students and professional categories for them to compete in. Organized by LTB Chefs Association Philippines (Les Toques Blanches), which is the premier chefs’ association in the country, the 2023 Philippine Culinary Cup is the 13th edition and has Chef Carlo Miguel as president. With Chef James Antolin as competition director, it had Chefs Fernando Aracama, J Gamboa and Buddy Trinidad as members of the Executive Committee. Also assisting were Chefs Jerome Valencia, JA Ventura, Marga Marty, Sito Senn and Erica Aquino.
This year’s competitions are the biggest ever, as, through the years, the Philippine Culinary Cup has become the most prestigious culinary competition in the country. There were 18 international teams competing in the PCC, and there were also the World Chefs’ Global Chefs Challenge-Semi-finals Asia 2023 qualifying competitions.
A big wow factor in this year’s competitions was the presence of over 40 international judges coming from different countries, including World Chefs’ president Thomas Gugler and Asian Continental director Willment Leong.
The World Chefs Asian Presidents Forum 2023 was likewise huge, and it had Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco as guest speaker. She emphasized the importance of food tourism and underscored Department of Tourism’s commitment to put to the fore culinary tourism as one of the Philippines’ multidimensional tourism package offerings.
The four-day event, anchored by the World Food Expo, turned out to be a major food celebration indeed and paved the way for the food industry to make a strong comeback after the pandemic.