Horeca 2013: Lebanon’s National Hospitality Show

This year’s Horeca, the annual meeting point for the hospitality industry professionals, has come to end. The event, which took place across four days, celebrated Horeca’s 20th edition, while rewarding excellence through various competitions, celebrating creativity on many levels, launching new products, showcasing latest innovations as well as enjoying live cooking and tasting by chefs from around the world… not forgetting conferences organized by the syndication and its key players.

For all professionals in the hospitality and food industries Horeca has become a platform for people in the industry’s business and trade and definitely an interest for NGNO.

I walked through the exhibition, scouted the various halls, discovered new items as well as met some interesting professional people who have a lot to offer the hospitality industry in Lebanon…

Exhibition Halls:

Hall A: Exhibition section where industrial machinery, simple booths divided by the regular aluminum separator.
Hall B: Different kinds of foods and agricultural products exhibited, coffee brands, pastries, various competitions, live cooking, tasting… People swarmed to watch live cooking and get a taste of food prepared by well-known chefs and annoying speakers with the chef voices trying to entertain the hungry guests.
Hall C: This hall included the wine & media section. The booth designs were out of this world. I guess they were competing on “Who has the largest show-off booth”.

The Different Exhibitors Categories:

Associations
Beverages
Catering Equipment
Coffee & Tea
Consultant Recruitment & Franchise
Education (Universities)
Embassy (Brazilian, Italian, Spanish, France)
Food Industries
Gas Suppliers
Hotels
Hygiene
Interiors (Tabletop, Linen, Uniforms, Amenities, Furniture & Furnishing)
Ministries
Media
Packaging & Labeling
Pastry & Bakery Services Companies
Tech Zone (Software Audiovisuals & Pro)

Competitions:

Pastry:

Theme Celebration Cake Four Elements
Open Showpiece Chocolate Sugar & Bread
Three Plated Dessert Presentation

Cooking:

Six Course Set Dinner Menu
Cold Platter of Fish, Poultry or Meat
Cold Canapés

Live Competitions:

Lebanese Cuisine:

Live Lebanese Sandwich
Live Lebanese Sweet
Live Lebanese Dish
Live Lebanese Mezze

International Cuisine:

Live Seafood Dish
Live Fresh Pasta Dish
Live Pastry
Live Meat Dish

Sandwich making:

Prunelle Senior Sandwich Making Competition

Juries:

Jaques Charrette, Former President D L Academie National de La Cuisine De France
Pierre Caillet, 1 Michelin Star Chef/Best Craftsman 2011 France
Ludovic Chesnay, Culinary Consultant /Elle Et Vivre International
Claire Clark, Best Crafts Worker In Britain -Best Pastry Chef In 2005
Giovanni D’amato, 2 Michelin Star Chef- Chef Owner Ristorante II Rigolotto, Piazza Matri -Italy
Jean Francois Deguignet, Pastry Chef & Technical Director LE Cordon Bleu Paris
Roland Herzog, Co-Founder World Bread Contest -Bread Ambassador France
Samoan Hilal, Culinary Creative Development & Production Director MMC Catering Kuwait
Tarek Ibrahim, Business Development Manager Meat & Livestock Australia MENA, Certified Executive Chef American Culinary Federation, Certified Global Judge World Association of Chefs Societies (Wacs), Egypt
Christophe Marguin, President Toques Blanches Du Monde France
Mohammad Orfali, Executive Chef Falafel TV
Francois Pozzoli, Founder World Bread Contest Best Craftsman in France 2004
Lucien Veillet President Academie Nationals De Cuisine France

Live Junior Chef Competition (3 Categories)

Live Junior Chef Cooking Competition
Live Junior Pastry Competition
Prunelle Junior Sandwich Making Competition

Judges:

Souheil Al Ghazal Executive Chef LE Royal Hotels & Resorts Beirut
Simon Attalah Executive Pastry Chef Fauchon Paris
Ludovic Chesnay Culinary Consultant Elle et Vivre
Claire Clark
Jean Francois Deguignet
Thomas Figovc Executive Chef Phoenicia
Abdallah Khodor Executive Chef LE Gray
Chadi Zeitouni, Future TV Chef

Atelier Gourmand: Barbara Massaad, author, photographer, and TV host as well as food consultant… animates celebrity chefs while they share their passion and innovation in live cooking demonstration and tasting sessions.

Art de Service: Food service professional and universities students showcase their talent and know how in table setting as well as F&B techniques

Lebanese Bartender Competition: The best of each outlet compete and mix for the title of best Lebanese bartender

Wine & Beverage Lab: Discover the latest innovation from the beverage industries and take stimulation business focused ideas from the industry experts from wine tasting as well as wine and cheese matching.