News Release Singapore Cuisine Enjoys Growing
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NEWS RELEASE SINGAPORE CUISINE ENJOYS GROWING POPULARITY AROUND THE WORLD Growing exports of Singapore food; United States is Singapore’s fastest-growing market for food exports. Singapore participates in world-famous culinary show, Worlds of Flavor 2009 MR No.: 067/09 Singapore, Wednesday, 11 November 2009 1. Consumers around the world, from Germany to Japan, and Middle East to New York, are increasingly drawn to Singapore cuisine, as evidenced by the growing food exports from Singapore, as well as the growing presence of Singapore food players in overseas markets. 2. Singapore’s domestic exports of food grew 24% from 2007, to reach S$3.8 billion in 2008. In particular, Singapore’s domestic food exports to the United States jumped over 90% from S$176 million in 2007, to S$338 million in 2008, making United States the fastest growing market for Singapore food exports. From January to September 2009, Singapore’s domestic food exports totaled S$2.6 billion. While Singapore food companies’ key markets remain in Asia, there is increasing interest in, and demand for Singapore food products from the United States, Europe and the Middle East. 3. Consumers are also able to satiate their cravings for Singaporean cuisine in restaurants across the world, from Seafood Republic in Japan, BreadTalk and Crystal Jade in China, Yakun in Japan and Korea, as well as Singaporean celebrity chef Mohan Ismail’s RockSugar Pan Asian Restaurant in the United States. 4. The growing popularity of Singapore cuisine is in no small part due to International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and the Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) promotional efforts for Singapore food and F&B players. IE Singapore and STB are collaborating once again to showcase Singapore cuisine at the internationally-renowned Worlds of Flavor Page 1 of 6 11 November 2009 (WOF) International Conference and Festival in Napa Valley, California, from 12 – 14 November 2009. Evolution of Singapore Hawker Food: From Street to Restaurant 5. With the slump in the global economy, the global F&B scene is under tight budgets and margins as customers rein in their spending on food. However, interests in global exotic cuisines remain high. Against this backdrop, the 12th WOF, titled ‘Frontiers of Flavor: World Street Food, World Comfort Food’, will showcase the best of street foods as well as foods which people consume for comfort, from all corners of the world. 6. Singapore, with its unique hawker dining culture, will present a diverse range of mouth- watering dishes such as Black Pepper Crab, Mee Goreng and Yu Sheng in its third participation in WOF. The event will also be an excellent avenue to profile Singapore’s food manufacturing companies’ products, as top chefs demonstrate the ease of preparing Singapore’s iconic dishes with convenient, yet authentic tasting sauces and pre-mixes. The Singapore delegation will comprise food personalities and accomplished chefs such as K. F. Seetoh, Andi Ng from Straits Kitchen, as well as Mohan Ismail, executive chef of RockSugar Pan Asian Restaurant in Los Angeles. 7. Highlights from Singapore’s culinary team include: i) General Session: Roti Prata Singapore food maestro K. F. Seetoh will present the history and evolution of roti prata, with Chef Mohan and Zulkifli bin Packeer Bawa from Tekka Market demonstrating prata flipping, with samplings of Singapore’s popular street dish with fish curry and kaya. ii) Kitchen Workshop: Feasts of Singapore Chef Andi Ng from Grand Hyatt Singapore’s Straits Kitchen will conduct a hands-on preparation course of Singapore’s signature Black Pepper Crab, Mee Goreng and Claypot Braised Seafood, using sauces by Singapore manufacturing companies. iii) Seminar Chef Mohan will be showcasing nyonya laksa as served in RockSugar, as well as the traditional version from Katong. He will also share his experiences being in hawker kitchens in Singapore and his culinary career in the United States, which included cooking at New York’s famed Tabla and the Spice Market, before opening RockSugar with the owners of the restaurant chain Cheesecake Factory. Page 2 of 6 11 November 2009 8. Says Mr Tan Soon Kim, Deputy Director of Lifestyle and Business Services Divisions, IE Singapore, “As part of IE Singapore’s efforts to support the overseas growth of Singapore-based food manufacturers and F&B players, Worlds of Flavor has proven to be a strategic platform to generate greater global mindshare of Singapore cuisine under the Tasty Singapore brand. This event enables Singapore to showcase our authentic Singapore offerings to top-tier decision-makers from the American F&B scene as they network with Singapore chefs, and participate in cooking demonstrations using ingredients from Singapore food manufacturing companies. We note that the seminar sessions on Singapore food are completely sold out. We are confident that Singapore food will emerge as the flavor of choice at WOF, thereby raising our profile further amongst the trade professionals. We are hopeful that these would translate into business opportunities for our companies in future. 9. “Singaporeans are known to love their food with its multitude of smells and flavours reflecting Singapore’s rich cultural melting pot,” said Mr Andrew Phua, Director of Tourism Shopping and Dining at the Singapore Tourism Board. “Singapore’s local food is well-received and is increasingly being recognised worldwide. While leveraging international media opportunities to heighten interest, we have also taken the opportunity to showcase some local favourites at international events such as the Singapore Day event in Hampton Court Palace as well as the Singapore Tiger Beer Chilli Crab Festival, both recently held in London. Upcoming showcases include the 2009 Singapore Food Roadshow at the bustling Raohe Night Market in Taiwan this November. Through our participation at the Worlds of Flavour 2009, we hope that diners will be introduced to dishes like Laksa, Black Pepper Crab and Mee Goreng and soon associate these rich and delectable flavours instantly with Singapore.” Annex A: About Worlds of Flavor Conference Annex B: List of delegates for Worlds of Flavor Conference and biodata ---End--- Note to Editor Please use ‘IE Singapore’ or ‘IE’ if an acronym for ‘International Enterprise Singapore’ is required. In addition, unless otherwise stated, the use of statistics cited in our media releases, website or Statlink, should be attributed to IE Singapore. Ms Daphne LYE Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications Group International Enterprise Singapore DID : + 65 6433 4476 Mobile : + 65 9436 1227 Fax : + 65 6337 8136 Email : [email protected] Page 3 of 6 11 November 2009 Mr Jason Ho Manager, Destination Communications Singapore Tourism Board Tel: + 65 6831 3763 Fax: +65 6736 9423 Email: [email protected] About International Enterprise Singapore International Enterprise (IE) Singapore is an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry spearheading the development of Singapore’s external economic wing. Our mission is to promote the overseas growth of Singapore-based enterprises and international trade. With a global network in over 30 locations and our “3C” framework of assistance – Connections, Competency, Capital, we offer services to help enterprises export, develop business capabilities, find overseas partners and enter new markets. At the same time, we work to position Singapore as a base for foreign businesses to expand into the region in partnership with Singapore-based companies. About the Singapore Tourism Board The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is an economic development agency for one of Singapore’s key service sectors – tourism. The mission of the Board is to develop and champion tourism, so as to build the sector into a key driver of economic growth for Singapore. The STB aims to differentiate and market Singapore as a memorable destination through the proliferation of the destination brand Uniquely Singapore. Page 4 of 6 11 November 2009 Annex A About Worlds of Flavor Conference The Worlds of Flavors Conference is organised by the Culinary Institute of America, and the 12th edition themed “Frontiers of Flavor: World Street Food, World Comfort Food,” will gather top culinary talent from the Mediterranean, Asia, Latin America and the United States. Presenters include more than 60 street food vendors, hawker chefs, tapas and meze specialists, barbecue masters, fine dining chefs who have been inspired by world street foods and comfort foods, mothers of chefs, legends of live fire and claypot cooking, as well as cookbook authors, street food chroniclers, and more. Highlighted regions and food cultures include Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, India, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Persia, Mexico, the Caribbean, Peru, Brazil and culinary hotspots across the United States. Conference Format Following its regular format, the 12th Worlds of Flavor Conference will be divided into four key sections: • General sessions (for all attendees, with a state-of-theart culinary stage); • Seminars and kitchen workshops (held concurrently throughout the CIA’s Napa Valley campus); • The World Marketplace (a dazzling walk-around event with both culinary and beverage tastings, demonstrations and cultural performances, and sponsor exhibits that occurs on Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday lunch); and • The Friday outdoor tented lunch including tastes from the World Live Fire Kitchen. Attendance & Registration Total attendance for the Worlds of Flavor Conference is limited