The IFSA/ITCA Asia Pacific Conference & Tradeshow held April 22 - 25 proved a truly successful event for industry professionals to discover countless regional opportunities, and the IFSA/ITCA alliance brought forth remarkable education sessions, essential for business growth in Asia Pacific.


More than 200 delegates were in attendance representing 32 countries and 94 companies!



"The IFSA/ITCA Asia Pacific Conference & Tradeshow was instructional and well thought out. The speakers were all knowledgeable and made their presentations enjoyable and educational. This Conference was up to the standards I have come to expect in this region."
  Graham Hudson, Director of Global Sales
Allen Amery
England

ken and david Attendees were welcomed on the opening day of the Conference by the IFSA and ITCA Presidents. Ken Samara and David Young thanked the membership for their support of the joint partnership and their joining of forces to provide the region a strong educational and networking event.


Pictured: David Young, ITCA President and Ken Samara, IFSA President

Generous sponsorship support was provided by many IFSA and ITCA members which contributed to the overall success of the event. As always, the local support from the host country is extremely valuable and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) put forth tremendous effort in program development and opened their kitchen to our competing chefs. In addition, SATS put on a spectacular dinner event consisting of cultural cuisine and entertainment.


Pictured left to right: Ken Samara, IFSA President; Hideo Miyabe, Asia Pacific Committee Chair; Chuan Lye Tan, SATS; David Young, ITCA President

Woon Conference Highlights


During his keynote address, Mr. Clement Woon, President and CEO of Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), provided an overview of the global aviation industry, including: airline economics, key challenges for inflight catering business, rising costs of food, food safety, customization versus standardization, future trends of the aircraft galley, and profitability of the airline catering industry.


Pictured right:
Clement Woon, President and CEO, Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), Keynote Speaker

chefs competition Four finalists put their skills to the test at the regional Chef’s Competition, competing for the winning position. Preparations for the competition were conducted in the SATS Training Kitchen.

Chef Yoshimitsu Nishio, TFK Corporation, took top honors with his recipe for a Dome of Roasted Lamb with Asian Spiced Coconut Mousse, baked Hommard Lobster, scented by Horseradish and Chili.

Pictured left to right:
Standing - Chef Anne Goo Saw Siok, SATS Catering-Singapore; Chef Yeung Hung Kwan, Gate Gourmet-Hong Kong; Chef Fritz Gross, LSG Sky Chefs-Hong Kong; and Chef Yoshimitsu Nishio, TFK Corporation-Japan.
Sitting – 2007 Chef’s Competition winner Chef Paul Mok, Gate Gourmet Australia; Chef Heinz Naef, Gourmet Foods; Chef Ian McKenzie, Philippine Airlines; Chef Happy K, Happy K Solutions; and Chef Colin Binmore, Kuwait Aviation Services.

"The event was very well organized and handled. Everything was excellent. The success shows the hard work, planning and commitment. Very well done!!! Please accept my congratulations."
  Anil Thapar, Assistant Operations Manager
Taj SATS Air Catering Ltd
India

Ulrike Ms. Ulrike Enneking, LSG Sky Chefs, presented a summary of the modifications to the IFSA and AEA (Association for European Airlines) World Food Safety Guidelines – Purpose and Value for the Airline Catering Industry. The document is available for download 24 hours a day, seven days a week at www.ifsanet.com in English and Spanish.


Pictured right are:
Ulrike Enneking, LSG Sky Chefs, and Master of Ceremonies Tim Zandbergen, TFK Corporation.

panelists Panelists provided varying perspectives on the topic of Fresh Frozen Food versus Cooked Chilled Food as moderated by Rick Lundstrom, PAX International.


Pictured left to right is:
Charles Grossrieder, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd; William Wong, LSG Sky Chefs; Gijs van Zon, MARFO; and Mark Trundle, SnapFresh.

audience Audience members were intrigued and entertained by various industry experts.


Pictured left to right are:
Jin-Hong Chung, Korean Air; Joseph Chew; and Asri Sahari, KL Airport Services Sdn. Bhd

Isabelle Devatine-Lacaze, Airbus SAS and Karmijt Singh, SATS offered attendees the latest information on the Airbus A380: From testing to real commercial service and post-launch experiences.

beatrice Beatrice Lim, Association of Asia Pacific Airlines provided a very positive overview of the Asia Pacific Aviation Industry stating “The long term growth prospects remain bright.”

Take Take Tsuchihashi, JAMCO Corporation gave the audience an informative and entertaining presentation on Future Trends of the Aircraft Galley.

All presentations are now available on IFSA’s Members-Only Web site. Just click here to access them.

Tradeshow Highlights

The Asia Pacific Travel Catering Tradeshow, held at Singapore Expo in conjunction with Food Hotel Asia, offered attendees the opportunity to meet with important regional business contacts and to discuss products and services that could benefit the way they do business.

"The Asia Pacific market is booming and the ITCA/IFSA show in Singapore gave us a chance to discuss projects in depth with a number of top customers. The budding cooperation between both associations is promising and we look forward to participating again next year."
Petros Sakkis
Wessco International


"We had a good response at the show and made a lot of new contracts. Overall, exhibiting at APTC provides excellent opportunities for airline suppliers and caterers to introduce themselves to the growing market in the Asia Pacific region and would certainly benefit their business in the future."
Eddy Goossens
Menu Plan Pro


"Being attached to such a large food show brought us many interesting contacts from the region. We therefore not only managed to catch up with out local Air and Rail customers but we also signed up several new distributors for our products."
Edwin Shufflebotham
Terinex Ltd

Golf & Social Highlights

The pre-Conference golf tournament took place at the lovely Marina Bay Club. The event allowed for excellent networking and relaxation, accompanied by terrific weather. The winning team consisted of Tran Van Bang, Vietnam Air Caterers; Phan Ngoc Linh, Vietnam Air Caterers; Noboru Ishii, TFK Corporation; and Paul German, Alpha Flight Services. The longest drive was awarded to Noboru Ishii, TFK Corporation. Closest to the Pin went to Hideo Miyabe, TFK Corporation.

Pictured left to right is:
Paul German, Alpha Flight Services; Larry Murphy, O’Sullivan Communications; Jin-Hong Chung, Korean Air; Bob Sun, Flying Food Group

dinner Wednesday’s dinner, themed “Singapore’s Finest”, hosted by Singapore Airport Termial Services (SATS) offered guests the finest in regional cuisine, cultural entertainment and audience participation.

dinner puzzle Attendees exhibited true teamwork in piecing together a puzzle of Singapore icons at the dinner hosted by SATS

closing dinner Pictured left to right are:
Woo YeongJu, Hacor Inc; Jose Antonio Garcia, Cebu Pacific Catering Services; and Jaime Arturo (Chinky) Viola, Philippine Airlines.

The closing dinner, held at the Swissôtel The Stamford, provided an evening of fun and entertainment with traditional Singaporean dance, karaoke and dancing. Thanks to the Singapore Tourism Board and Servair for their generosity in supporting this event.

winning chef IFSA President Ken Samara, AMI Inflight, Inc., and Asia Pacific Committee Chair Hideo Miyabe, TFK Corporation, announced the winner of the Chef’s Competition - Chef Yoshimitsu Nishio, TFK Corporation. Chef Nishio received two business class tickets on All Nippon Airways (ANA) and a crystal award. He will also be given a customized chef’s jacket in honor of his achievement.

"It’s great that the two associations are now working together in Asia – long may it continue."
  Paul German, Commercial Director
Alpha Flight Services
United Kingdom

The event was expertly planned and designed, thanks to a committed and talented Asia Pacific Conference Planning Committee.

Committee members are:

  • Hideo Miyabe, TFK Corporation (Chair)
  • Ken Samara, AMI Inflight, Inc. (IFSA President)
  • David Young, Watermark Products Group (ITCA President)
  • Doug Bressler, Continental Airlines
  • Joseph Chew
  • Terry Coyle, ITCA
  • Belinda May, Birch & Waite
  • Bob Sun, Flying Food Group
  • Chuan Lye Tan, Singapore Airport Terminal Services
  • Jaime Arturo Viola, Philippine Airlines (Board Liaison)
  • Cameron Woodward, Qantas Airways (Board Liaison)
  • Tim Zandbergen, TFK Corporation

Thanks to David Lau, Do Food Co., Ltd for providing all photographs of the event.

IFSA AND ITCA EXTENDS A VERY SPECIAL “THANK YOU” TO OUR MANY GENEROUS SPONSORS
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