by Ts. Dr. Irine Runnie Henry Ginjom
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science,Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus

by Anabelle Co-Martinent
Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, PHUTURE Foods

Consumers are embracing plant-based eating in record numbers, accepting plant-based meat analogues and alternative dairy in ways that might once have been thought unimaginable. Plant-based eating is on the rise globally is booming, having reached $7 billion, with sales growth of 27% in 2020. With climate change, sustainability and health being the focus for many consumers, growing awareness about the value and importance of plant-based products are certainly propelling the market. While greater demand for plant-based eating clearly opens new market opportunities, what’s exciting in the space is innovation – the quality and variety of products that can be created to meet the flavour and texture expectations. Formulation technologies and ingredient innovation are enabling the design of products that consumers prefer and can acceptable.

by Melisa Lim
Co-founder, Marketing, Langit Collective

Empowerment means giving power to someone, and it’s something that we can all do.
Empowering rural communities involves more than just giving them with resources to enhance their own lives; it also entails assisting them in developing agency so that they can care for themselves in the future. Empowerment is like delivering a big bear hug to a community. It means supporting people with the tools and resources they need to help themselves.

by
Logeetha Balakrishnan
New Ventures Manager, BoomGrow

Kenneth Chai
Co-founder, Airgro Sdn Bhd

Melissa Lim
Co-founder, Marketing, Langit Collective

Anas Amdan
Founder, Bantu Heroes

Food security threats were prevalent since the world population accelerated at an increasing pace. The COVID-19 pandemic presented itself as a wake-up call for Malaysia at the moment when logistical issues caused a temporary lack of produce in certain areas and food waste in the form of post-harvest losses. More than that, record high food prices have triggered a global crisis that will drive millions more into poverty, magnifying hunger and malnutrition, while threatening to erase hard-won gains in development. What is the outlook for Malaysia in the next decade?

by
Raine Melissa Riman
Founder, Sarawak Coffee Culture Research Network

Dr Anna Sulan Masing
Co-founder of Cheese Magazine

Datin Dona Drury Wee
Chairman of Culinary Heritage and Arts Society Sarawak (CHASS)

How does Sarawak cuisine being represented within the local and international discourse? From our renowned peppercorns to the culture of fermenting rice, to the tradition of curing meat, this appreciation of Sarawak’s unique taste and flavour, are interwoven within the people’s cosmology, and the nature that surrounds them. Today, these ingredients and its oral history continue to play an essential role in Kuching City modern food scene and culinary innovations, suiting its status as UNESCO’s creative city of gastronomy, where the old meets new.

by Marco Sandri
Global Manager of The PLEDGE™ on Food Waste

This session takes an in-depth look at the different aspects of the food industry, often overlooked. Statistically, around 1.3 billion tonnes of food annually, ended their journey in landfills, contributing to climate change and social issues (BBCEarth, 2022). The food industry including its waste management, plays a significant role in redefining the future of our food system and social equity. (Name of speaker) tells us how we can make a difference.

by Violet Oon
Writer, Speaker, Content Creator, PR Strategy, F&B Consultant, Recipe Development, Violet Oon Consultants

Southeast Asia is credited with giving rise to one of the first fusion cuisines in history. Centuries of trade and global interaction in Southeast Asia have created a space where diverse cultures and identities collide. Our Straits food culture is one of the most notable outcomes of this blending. Bursting with flavours and colours, the unique culture of Peranakan food represents the diversity of this region and its multiculturalism. Violet Oon, the grand dame of Singapore Peranakan cuisine and Lion’s city most iconic food ambassador, shares her story of her dedication in exploring her history, heritage and her identity through food.

by Huen Su San
Serial Entrepreneur, Founder of COOKHOUSE

Ramifications of the pandemic caused the spark of evolution to F&B consumerism. This session will underline the catalytic change in food technology, services, concept development, menu creation, food delivery service as well as the rise in health & wellness focus – the aftereffects of the pandemic lockdowns.

by
Chef John Lim
Chef De Cuisine for Roots Restaurant – Food Journal

Hazel Tang
Chef owner of DINEWITHFED Bakery & Cafe

The casualisation of fine dining, the refining of casual foods, the free expression of heritage and inspiration are all directions that chefs have been exploring over the last few years. Join three young chefs as they share what drives them creatively and how they are redesigning and reimagining the future of dining in this region.

by
Chef William Ragonneau
Executive Chef, Saveur Consulting Sdn Bhd

TJ Antony
Brand Developer & Beverage Innovation Manager -Asia,Giffard Liqueurs & Syrups

Supper club, food trucks, kitchen takeover and chefs collaboration have become the next-generation trend in the food & beverage industry. Get insights and BTS of these trends, what is the most efficient ways to offer unique culinary experiences that will blow the consumers’ mind.

by Suzanne Ling
Co-founder, Storyteller, PichaEats

PichaEats is a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia based social enterprise in the food industry, focused on supporting the city’s large refugee community. PichaEats partners with frefugee chefs to cook and package meals based on the chef’s personal recipes, and sells and delivers them to individuals and catered events across the city. Catch the 3 young ladies who transformed PichaEats froma college service project into a self-sustaining business that has delivered more than 350,000 meals and partnered with over 35 refugee chefs. Learn from them as they share moving stories about the displaced individuals with whom PichaEats has partnered, and discuss PichaEat’s growth path and strategic vision, the challenges of running a social enterprise through COVID-19, and the status of refugees in Malaysia.

by Dr. Kenny Lee Wee Ting
Co-founder, Earthlings Coffee Workshop

The rise of interest in specialty coffee is growing at a fast pace within the Southeast Asian market. With the rising awareness of sustainable production and ethical consumptions, consumers are re-educating themselves with new penchants for fine organoleptic qualities of mild roasted coffee, while getting to know the story behind it, and are willing to pay more for ‘good’ coffee. Dr Kenny Lee, a coffee expert, is here to share his firsthand experience working with the entire coffee supply chain, from beans to cup, while building a robust specialty coffee business in Sarawak; not only for profit, but also to educate.

by Alleena Abdullah
Founder, Yellow Tree Malaysia

Come and discover solutions to real life issues faced by chefs and restauranteurs. Be inspired by success stories from F&B case studies and best practices to enhance your entrepreneurial journey and build an ownable unique F&B brand.

As restauranteurs, chefs and hospitality professionals progress in business and develop their brand at different stages, their purpose, goals, and drive will evolve significantly. How can you keep up through the clutter? Alleena will share valuable consultancy learnings from business-driven and influential chefs, restauranteurs, and F&B brands so that you can also be a unique Entrepreneurial-Centric Brand!

by Alexander Lowell Small
Co-founder and Managing Director of UMAI

As digitization reshapes the functional and operational outlook of the restaurant industry, major independents and franchisees alike are clinging to data in the hope that it’ll help them succeed in this modern business landscape.

There’s just one problem: few stakeholders know how to extract meaningful insights from it.

With the competition for restaurant guests getting fiercer, analyzing the metrics and reports associated with your operations becomes integral to your role as the owner or manager.

With new technologies like POS integration, and the more tech companies in the space making APIs available, restaurant data is becoming useful for restauranteurs. What if you could use the frequency of special requests to engineer your menu, or If you could know why a certain day of the week attracts fewer customers?

With the right use of restaurant data analytics, you can.

by
Kol Bersekutu (PA) Datuk Abdul Malik Abdullah
Founder and Managing Director of D’tandoor International Group of Restaurants
Adjunct Professor – UNITAR, KLMUC, UNIMEL

Hj Jamalludin HM
Director of Hakim Academy Sdn Bhd

The opportunity to franchise will always be omnipresent and may seem to be a natural step for any established restaurant. In franchising, timing is everything and should meet the 3 basic criterias: scalability, “clone-ability” and ROI.

Common decision factors for franchising include lack of money, people or time where business owners see a way out in having franchisees do most of the heavy lifting. However, every restaurant is not without its unique challenges.

So the question is, what should you consider before franchising your business, and more importantly, should you be thinking of scaling your business through franchising?

by Philip Chow
Director of Malaysia Operations, Old Chang Kee Limited

Curry puff, a byproduct of colonial trades in Southeast Asia, is a common “traditional” pastry snack in this region, with no single origin story. Each culture in this region has its own take on the puff, which is commonly served as a tea time treat. For 66 years, one particular Singaporean brand, Old Chang Kee (OCK), has successfully expanded its curry puff empire. But what has set OCK apart from other curry puffs in Singapore and its neighbourhood for so long? With 70 stores worldwide, OCK is here to reveal how this brand has stood the test of time and is still appealing to today’s youth market competing with other trendy nosh and nibble.

by Dr. Eduardo Seijo
UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Focal Point for the City of Mérida|
UCCN Gastronomy Cluster Coordinator

The project, launched in 2004, aims to promote cooperation between cities around the world whose common characteristic is the use of creativity to promote sustainable urban development. The network covers seven creative areas: handicrafts and folk arts, design, cinema, gastronomy, literature, media, and music.

Creative cities are committed to developing and sharing experiences to make them more inclusive and sustainable, establishing partnerships between the public and private sectors and civil society, and fostering professional and artistic exchange programs and networks, among other actions. Currently, two hundred and forty-six cities have been designated Creative Cities, with thirty-six cities in the area of ​​gastronomy. So, what is UNESCO Creative City Network – area of gastronomy all about?

by
Jane Bennett
Chair of Launceston Gastronomy

Hideki Shuto
Manager, Creative City of Gastronomy Promotion Office, Industrial and Tourism Promotion Division, Usuki Municipal Government

Many regions have recognized local foods as icons of their countries and act as one of important attributes of developing a destination. The availability of local foods provides travellers and local consumers with positive memorable experiences. Tourism destinations are competing to promote food tourism which is an emerging segment in the tourism industry. In this regard, rural destination is no exception.

by
Dr. Eduardo Seijo
UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Focal Point for the City of Mérida |UCCN Gastronomy Cluster Coordinator.

Colleen Swain
UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Focal Point for San Antonio & Creative City of Gastronomy Deputy Coordinator

Jane Bennett
Chair of Launceston Gastronomy

Mariangela Regazzi
Team Manager of the Tourist Information Office Iat R on behalf of the Municipality of Parma

Hideki Shuto
Manager, Creative City of Gastronomy Promotion Office, Industrial and Tourism Promotion Division, Usuki Municipal Government

Get up close and personal with the other cities from the UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Network as they share their gastronomy journey and innovation.

by Zhu Lian
Managing Director of Vision Group

Businesses can breakthrough to greater heights if they achieve mastery in their finances. And financing is more than just accounting, bookkeeping and budgeting. Strategic finance is the ability to raise funds sustainably to support the needs of the business. In this talk, Zhu Lian will be sharing the various fundraising options that business owners can consider, based on his experiences in ventures of various stages, from start-up to post-IPO.

by Shaun Chua
Managing Director of Vision Advisory

The fundraising journey is a constant process of storytelling. The clearer your message, and the simpler your story is to understand, the easier will be your fundraising journey. A story is as important as the business itself, which can directly impact the amount of funds raised. In this talk, Shaun will be sharing tips on how companies can tell a compelling story to get the best valuations for fundraising.