International chefs to join Bakery World 2023

CEBU, Philippines — To help more Cebuanos to start a thriving business in the food and beverage industry, the upcoming Bakery World 2023 is bringing in eight chefs from around the world to showcase updates and trends in the global baking industry.

Scheduled on September 14 to 16, 2023 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casinos, the event’s chairman Peter Limquiaco, announced that discussion of these international chefs will be free of charge to those interested in kickstarting their own culinary ventures.

Limquiaco, who is also the president of Global Pacific Distribution Network Corporation said that these international chefs who will be joining the three-day event are coming from Australia, Malaysia, the USA, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, France, and Japan.

Organized by the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), this year’s Bakery World aims to enable bakeries and cafe owners, especially the small and medium players, to level up.

MCCI president Kelie Ko said that aside from Cebuanos, the event is also anticipating participants coming from Visayas and Mindanao, as well as from Luzon.

"We’re going to see a lot of bakery and café related suppliers, from ingredients to equipment and a little bit of packaging,” explained Ko, adding that participants will also be able to see and learn different ways of using products, and come up with new products. “We will also have food photography sessions.”

There will be a total of six learning sessions per day during the three-day event, where attendees can increase productivity, improve product quality, and create new innovations in their business.

Apart from the foreign chefs, Limquiaco said that Bakery World 2023 will also be graced by local renowned chefs, and most of them will be joining the exhibit.

The expo will host a total of 82 exhibitors with 166 booths, an increase from the expo’s first installation in 2018 with 57 exhibitors and 113 booths.

According to Limquiaco, the organizers are expecting more participants this year, as more people were discovering their passions in baking and turned it into small businesses during the pandemic.

Activities during the three-day expo also include; wedding cake decorations, the Love Philippines cake decoration featuring the country’s tourist attractions, and the bread art showpiece. The prizes for each category are P10,000 for the first prize, P60,000 for the second prize, and P30,000 for the third prize.

The first Bakery World 2018 exhibition, held at the then JCenter Mall in Mandaue City, had 57 exhibitors with 113 booths that featured “crème de la crème” of the leading baking and food industry. It drew in no fewer than 5,000 visitors. — (FREEMAN)