Distinguished guests,

 Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Introduction

 

1. Thank you for inviting me to open FHA-HoReCa 2024. I was here for the first edition in 2022, and the second edition here in 2024. This year, we are delighted to welcome more than 800 exhibitors across more than 30 countries and regions, and over 40,000 attendees.

2. FHA-HoReCa is known for food and hospitality of course, which reminds me of the Netflix hit Culinary Class Wars. The show features creativity, culture and cuisine in the competition. The chefs in the show all have their own unique recipes and ingredients that they use to create incredible cuisine.

a. This morning, I am going to present my dish to you, our judges in the audience. The dishes represent the food services and hospitality industry, and I will reveal the three not-quite-secret ingredients that make this dish special.

The three ingredients are

i. Climate-friendliness

ii. Creativity

 iii. Competitiveness

 

Climate-Friendliness

 

3. The first ingredient to make our food services and hospitality sector delectable is climate friendliness.

4. Our industry must be climate-friendly not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is what our businesses and consumers want. I spoke about this at FHA-HoReCa 2022 and we have made progress since. Judges, let me present to you the dishes that we have put together to showcase our climate-friendly cuisine:

a. First, our Hotels: I launched our Hotel Sustainability Roadmap with our Singapore Hotel Association and Singapore Tourism Board in 2022.

We aimed to have 60% of Singapore’s hotel rooms gain international certification such as by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council by 2025 and to start tracking and reducing emissions, aiming for net zero by 2050. We are well on track to meet these targets, with more than 40% of Singapore’s hotels either certified or in the process of certification.

More than 200 hotels have received the Singapore Green Hotel Award, and over 100 hotels have received the Green Mark Certification for their efforts to achieve energy efficiency, water conservation, and sustainable construction practices.

b. Second, our MICE sector: We have been working to reduce the environmental footprint of our MICE venues. In December 2022, I launched our MICE Sustainability Roadmap with the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) and STB. We aimed for our MICE industry to become Asia-Pacific’s leading sustainable MICE destination by 2030, and reach net zero by 2050.

We met one of the key targets of this Roadmap earlier this year when Singapore became one of the first countries in the world to launch a national MICE Industry Carbon and Waste Baseline exercise. This exercise tracks energy and water usage and waste from MICE events. If you are curious, the average carbon emission from each one of us here today is 14.13 kg of CO2. We cannot fix what we can’t measure.

So fix it we are. Just above us, you will find more than 16,000 solar panels powering the Singapore EXPO. This is the largest single-site rooftop solar installation in Singapore, equivalent to the size of 8 football fields.

c. Third, our malls: Since we last gathered, more malls and hotels in Singapore are piloting food valourisers. These food valourisers turn food waste into animal feed, while retaining up to 95% of its calorific and nutrient value. This is a big step in reducing total waste, especially considering we discard around 750,000 tons of food annually. This is also in line with consumer preferences. Around 35% of consumers in Singapore are willing to pay up to 10% more for sustainable alternatives.

5. So we are making steady progress to be climate-friendly. And I’m glad we are doing more.

a. First, we are organising the sustainability-focused Future of Hospitality Seminar at this year’s FHA-HoReCa.

b. Second, EnterpriseSG will launch a sustainability playbook for our food services industry later this year to guide companies to embed sustainability in their operations, such as in food waste management and packaging.

6. Thank you to all of you - our industry leaders and experts from various countries for your strong commitment towards sustainability. A special mention to our friends and board members from the ASEAN Hotel and Restaurant Association, who are here with us.

 

Creativity

 

7. The second ingredient that we need is creativity. To make this ingredient well, we need to make use of technology, digital solutions and robotics.

a. Between 2020 to 2023, tech projects supported by STB’s Business Improvement Fund achieved productivity savings of around 4,800 manhours, equivalent to 550 full-time staff.

b. In 2023, more than 90% of SMEs in our Food Services industry adopted at least one digital solution following the launch of our Food Services Industry Digitalisation Plan.

c. My colleagues at EnterpriseSG are also partnering industry players to use technology creatively in our industry. Please check out the “Gastrobars Reimagined” showcase here at FHA-HoReCa. It combines the concept of a restaurant and bar with futuristic elements such as an automated cocktail dispenser, a stir-frying cooking robot, and an AI Smart Food Waste Tracker. This showcase was done collaboratively between EnterpriseSG, Workforce Singapore and the Singapore Nightlife Business Association.

d. Finally, I am also delighted to report that FHA-HoReCa 2024 will launch the inaugural Asian edition of FSTEC. FSTEC is a leading food service tech conference in the US. FSTEC Asia will showcase tech-driven solutions and opportunities.

 

Competitiveness

 

8. Finally, the third ingredient for a great food services and hospitality industry is competitiveness. We can raise the quality of our cuisine and offerings not just by being climate friendly and creative, but also by being competitive.

9. That is why for fans of cooking competitions like Masterchef or Culinary Class Wars – you are in luck!

a. FHA-HoReCa is partnering World Association of Chefs Societies to host Singapore’s first-ever Global Chefs Challenge Finals at Singapore Expo, from today till 25th of October. This will be held alongside the prestigious Worldchefs Congress which will be held at Marina Bay Sands.

b. The finals will feature categories including pastry, young chefs, and vegan. FHA-HoReCa will be debuting competitions for dessert and coffee as well.

10. We have chefs from around the world participating – from distinguished and experienced ‘White Spoons’ to up and coming ‘Black Spoons’. The stage is yours – best of luck in the competition!

 

Conclusion

 

11. So there you have it, judges! I hope that you have whetted your appetite with my dish and the three ingredients we have added: climate-friendliness, creativity and competitiveness.

12. Put together, this smorgasbord of offerings will enhance our food services and hospitality sector. And we will need more cooks to help us here at FHA-HoReCa, because there is no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.

13. Thank you all for joining us this year; from the food services and hospitality industry, and congrats to Informa Markets for this year’s successful edition!