Fonterra Foodservices Malaysia (the world’s largest exporter of dairy products such as Anchor, Mainland and Perfect Italiano) revealed the winners of the Fonterra Foodservices Pastry and Pizza Challenge 2012 who carted away prizes worth RM25,000 with their acute creativity and flawless culinary skills.
Organised for the second time, the nationwide competition featured 14 finalists selected from among the 60 entrants, battling it out to win the coveted prizes with their scrumptious pastries and pizza.
Shahnazrazad Yahaya (Channel Development Manager, Fonterra Foodservices) said, “Fonterra Foodservices Malaysia organized the Pizza & Pastry Challenge 2012 to offer Malaysia’s chefs an opportunity to demonstrate their creativity and culinary skills whilst competing with the crème de la crème in the industry.
“As the leading provider of quality dairy products and ingredients in the country, we want to help identify new talent while setting higher benchmarks for the Malaysian foodservice industry,”.
The panel of judges for the Pizza & Pastry Challenge comprised a powerhouse of industry bigwigs including Jean Francois Arnaud, David Warren, Ahmad Kasdi bin Dahari, Arthur Heng and Manfred Kohlen, reputed internationally as chefs of superior culinary acumen.
During the prize giving ceremony, Gold Award recipients, Syaiful Azlan Arif and Cheam Kah Boon each walked away with RM3,000 in cash.
In addition, Syaiful was awarded an all-expenses paid trip to represent Malaysia at the next Fonterra Global Pizza Challenge in Melbourne, Australia, while Cheam was offered an exclusive three-day culinary training under Jean Francois Arnaud, sponsored by HTC Asia.
On Fonterra Foodservices’ role in nurturing the new breed of chefs, Shahnaz said, “Fonterra Foodservices Malaysia has always been supportive of new talent and has worked closely with the industry to nurture our country’s chefs to reach new heights.
We are confident that our products will support the creativity and culinary skills of these young chefs, even as they go ahead to set new benchmarks for the Malaysian foodservice industry,”.
Bearing testimony to this, Fonterra’s Anchor dairy products were used as one of the main ingredients during the Challenge to ensure top quality standards for the new recipes.
Anchor is currently a leading player in the foodservices market with its finest quality dairy cream, cheese, butter and milk. Anchor dairy products have also been the preferred choice of bakers, caterers, commercial kitchens, hotels, restaurants, chefs, quick-service restaurants and cafes in Malaysia.
In addition to the Gold Award winners, Pele Kuah Choon Liang and Suharizam Yahyah were presented with the RM2,000 Silver Award, while, Justin Javear and Keat Ean Ean walked away with the Bronze Award of RM1,000 each for pizza and pastry contests respectively.
All other finalists received RM200 in cash and Anchor goodie bags as well.
Given its rising popularity, the Fonterra Foodservices Pastry and Pizza Challenge is also organised in other countries such as:
New Zealand
Australia
Hong Kong
Taiwan
Thailand
Philippines
Vietnam
Indonesia
Pastry art, we totally get. But who knew that there could be art in pizza making as well, huh?
For more pictures from the event, go here.
For further details on Fonterra Foodservices and the complete results of the Pizza and Pastry Challenge 2012, visit their website here.