Taylor’s Culinary Institute and School of Food Studies and Gastronomy’s students had joined the Food Hotel Asia (FHA) Learning Field Trip to Singapore. FHA was an event of the year for Asia’s Food and Hospitality industry to discover top trends and innovations from across the globe and it is a trade event that was only open to relevant professionals from the industry.
FHA organizer had organized a group tour for students to check out all the booths in the event which included an impressive Robotic Barista Innovation. The Robotic Barista is able to imitate human’s barista work and produce a latte art on the coffee that had impressed most of the students. Besides that, the students were also given opportunity to join the Beverage Masterclasses by Monin and Davinci.
In the masterclasses, students had learnt several varieties of Monin syrups and powdered beverages as well as learnt how to produce few different beverages with the products. Nevertheless, there was also restaurant equipment explanations to the students such as Victorinox, the largest producer of Swiss knives in the world. The students were shown to different types of knives available, how they were made and how can they be used for different occasions. This year’s focus on technology saw an increase in robotics at the exhibition, including upcoming trends in coffee, gelatos and pastries.
During this Learning Field Trip, the schools also grabbed opportunity to bring the students to the iconic and newly refurbished Raffles Hotel, enabled by alumnus Louis Toh, Assistant Head Sommelier of the hotel. During the hotel visit, Louis Toh showed the students few classic cocktails making such as Singapore sling with the traditional cocktail making equipment. It was an eye opener for all the students as they were able to experience the real bartender world and able to understand the vast variety of spirits/alcohol available in the industry.
During the field trip, students were also exposed to many touristic experiences, including living in hostels, and taking the public transport to visit the various landmarks and attractions such as the famed Merlion statue, Marina Bay Sands, watching the night laser show, Gardens by the Bay, Jewel at Changi and even made it to the Universal Studios for a day out. A short but productive and memorable learning trip for all!
