Singapore Exhibition Services Food&HotelAsia (FHA) and Wine&SpiritsAsia (WSA) shows will be the first to max out all 10 halls at the Singapore Expo and Max Atria when the show is held April 8-11.

Spanning a total of 100,000 square meters, an 8 percent increase in size from 2012, this year’s show will be the largest edition in the event’s 37-year history. 

FHA started out the Hyatt hotel’s basement car park, where 213 exhibitors from 13 countries/regions took up 4,000 sq. m.

Since then, the event, which includes WSA that was launched in 2010, has grown more than 25 times in size, as well as a 13-fold increase in exhibitors.

This year, there will be 2,800 exhibitors from 70 countries/regions and 54 group pavilions at FHA.

Offerings span across all aspects of the food and beverage (F&B) and hotel industry such as food products, bar and kitchen equipment and supplies, food processing equipment, hotel amenities, table ware and hospitality technology, among many others.

“As industry pioneers we wanted to create a platform where local and regional food and hospitality businesses could benefit from what was available in the global market place as it was not easily accessible back then,” said Stephen Tan, CEO of SES.

He added, during the years, FHA has grown with the development of the region’s hotel and F&B industry to become its top sourcing platform, and pinnacle trade event.

“This year is a milestone for FHA and WSA as it has maximised the available exhibition space of Singapore’s largest exhibition venue,” Tan said. “Moving forward, the event will only continue to grow as new markets in the region become more developed, and demand increases.” 

In 2011, the number of establishments in the accommodation and F&B services sector in Singapore stood at 6,842. This is in contrast to just 4,739 in 2005.

In 2012, total F&B operating receipts amounted to S$7.8 billion, with all F&B services groups including restaurants, fast food outlets, food caterers and other F&B services registering increases.The number of hotel rooms in Singapore is also expected is to grow by more than 20 percent to about 53,000 rooms by 2015.

The 19^th edition of FHA will see the launch of SpecialityCoffee&Tea, bringing the total number of speciality shows to six. Set against the backdrop of a booming café culture, SpecialityCoffee&Tea will integrate all aspects of the industry in a single platform featuring a comprehensive range of equipment, coffee beans, tea leaves and accessories from across the globe.  

Prominent international exhibitors at the show include renowned local and international industry brands such as Bunn-O-Matic, Bravilor, Cimbali, Diedrich, Dilmah, Ebenezer, Empire Tea, Expolanka Teas,  Giesen, illycaffé, La Marzocco, Nestlé, Rancilio, Santino Coffee, Santos and many more.

In addition, the event will also host the FHA Barista Challenge and first-ever FHA Latte Art Challenge, alongside a number of courses, workshops and fringe activities.

Ting Siew Mui, project director of Lifestyle Events at SES, said, “Rising affluence and changing lifestyles in the region has created greater demand for gourmet coffee. Perfectly complementing FHA’s five existing speciality shows, the launch of SpecialityCoffee&Tea throws a spotlight on the industry and highlights its development, and caters to the region’s booming café culture.”

 The other five specialty shows are FoodAsia, HotelAsia, Bakery&Pastry, HospitalityStyleAsia, and HospitalityTechnology.  

Since 2010, WSA has been held alongside FHA. The exhibition is spread over 5,000 sq. m.  and has 200 exhibitors from 20 countries/regions and seven group pavilions.

This year’s show has the most number of group pavilions, representing the world’s top producing wine regions, with Spain leading the charge with the biggest pavilion.