The biggest annual single-entry chef competition in the world, the 23rd Emirates International Salon Culinaire, is to come back to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates next month.
The event, which will be inaugurated by Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) chairman Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, will run from 3rd to 5th March at Expo Centre Sharjah.
Worldchefs endorses the annual event, which also has a lot of support from a number of influential sponsors, including the likes of IFFCO and Nestle.
The event includes 30 different categories, an increase on the 29 categories featured in the 2019 event, which a number of experienced master chefs judge and award according to international standards.
After in-depth judging and feedback, competitors receive gold, silver or bronze accreditation.
At the Culinary Olympics, which have just taken place in Stuttgart in Germany, the team from the UAE – headed by the president of Emirates Culinary Gold, Chef Uwe Micheel, who is also Worldchefs’ assistant vice president, won 21 gold medals.
The team also won 16 silver medals, eight bronze and one diploma.
The UAE has already demonstrated its ability to take on the culinary world’s best talents, and to be rewarded by the international culinary community was enormously rewarding on a personal and professional level, Micheel notes.
Micheel adds that it is now time to make sure that more worldwide benchmarks are given to Emirates International Salon Culinaire at ExpoCulinaire 2020 to underpin the variety and strength of the talent in these sectors in the UAE.
The team has done the UAE proud and demonstrated the quality of which the nation is capable, says Guild chairman Andy Cuthbert, who is also the general manager of Madinat Conference Centre and Jumeirah Creekside Hotel.
This quality has been reflected in the 70% increase in company participation and size in just the second year.
The sector continues to be supported by Sharjah, with Expo Centre Sharjah and the SCCI obviously wanting to see growth for these businesses and taking active steps to ensure benefits for companies based in Sharjah.
The organiser of ExpoCulinaire and CEO of Purple Kitchen Events, Joanne Cook, says that everything related to kitchens, such as art, competitions, demonstrations, education, services and products, can be found under one roof at ExpoCulinaire.
ExpoCulinaire has already proved to be the first choice for companies wishing to actually get to know their end users, Cook adds.
Another specialised event is set to join ExpoCulinaire in the form of the third annual Filipino Food Industry Conference, which is being organised by Philippines pavilion organiser Filfood.
‘Grow Exponentially’ will be the focus of that event in the build-up to Dubai Expo 2020 and will attract restaurant owners and F&B operators when it is presented in October.
Anyone who wants to travel to Sharjah, Dubai or anywhere else in the UAE should take out travel insurance to ensure that they receive financial protection against unexpected events such as cancelled flights or falling ill overseas.
