A Message from President Ferdinand Metz

Dear Colleagues from around the world, The board of WACS received the news of the recent disaster in South and South East Asia with a great deal of concern for all those afflicted, in particular for those members of the World Association of Cooks' Societies, living in areas that stood in the way of the destructive path of the Tsunami. Words of hope and compassion seem so inadequate at times like these but I hope that they will bring some comfort, knowing that the thoughts and prayers of colleagues from around the world are with all those suffering from this untimely disaster. Frank Naesheim, the continental director for the afflicted area will serve as a contact point and will try to assess how WACS can be of assistance. It is our collective hope to promptly provide aid and comfort to those in need. On behalf of the entire WACS board I appeal to all members to be prepared and ready to assist when called upon.

Sincerely yours,
Ferdinand Metz

Appeal from Sri Lanka
Written by Alan Palmer

As I write this message exactly 72 hours have passed by and according to the latest news over 60,000 people are known to have died in the region and many more are unaccounted for. In Sri Lanka, the official death toll has reached 22,000 and rising.

The whole coastal strip of the country has been affected, unimaginable scenes of devastation and destruction are broadcast on the local TV. Images include a passenger train carrying 1,200 passengers all perished, the force of the waves smashed the train of it's track, buses piled up into heaps, open air markets with early shoppers swept away, children attending tuition classes vanished, fishermen villagers, military camps, resorts, seafront restaurant devastated.

All those WACS members who attended the Asia Pacific Forum in Sri Lanka a few years ago may remember their stay at the Yala Safari Game Lodge, it is no longer there. All gone along with 11 staff including the General Manager and the Executive Chef and 30 guests.

The nearby Maldive Islands report over 60 death among their population but news is very limited about the 40,000 tourists and staff in the resort islands barely above sea level on a normal day.

Relief efforts are on the way in Sri Lanka, convoys of trucks have left Colombo during the last 24 hours with some bare essentials such as clean water, food, clothing and medicine. International aid is arriving and they are all helping in the process of immediate aid. However this will only be a small effort for the nearly 2,5 million people who have been displaced with no home, shelter and whose live hood has vanished.

The immediate steps now are to find and bury the deceased to avoid the spread of illness, repair the roads, bridges and railway systems. It will be tough as insurance will not cover this catastrophe, this is not for example Florida where after such a disaster people can claim for property damage, etc.

In the hospitality industry, salaries are based on receiving service charge as basic salaries are minimum, no guests means no service charge which will result in a paltry take home pay. Renovation of the resort may take months even years if funds are available.

Personally I had the good fortune that our 10 visiting family members from Switzerland escaped from the Serendib Hotel in Bentota with a few cuts and bruises and lost personal items. Arlette managed to bring them back to Colombo with Nathalie and our 2 grand daughters and our visitors are now safely back home. My son in laws water sport's centre was washed away but all his family and staff are safe, also their home.

I have received many calls and emails from friends and colleagues from overseas for which I am most grateful. I have contacted several members of the Chefs Guild in Sri Lanka, so far no bad news but everyone is busy within their hotel and family issues. Telecommunication is very difficult, so contacting people is not easy.

New Zealand Fundraising Effort
Written by Gary Miller
New Zealand Chefs Association Regional Assistant

As we are all too well aware, millions of people have been displaced due to the enormous power that mother nature unleashed over the Christmas weekend within the Indian Oceana region of the world.

Christmas traditionally to us here in the western world is a time for giving and a time for thinking of those less fortunate than ourselves. Though Christmas day for 2004 has passed, this should not deter us from continuing to show our generous and passionate spirit that we as chefs are capable of when times of need such as this arise.

The chefs of the pacific region, New Zealand, Australia and Fiji have banded together and have raised $10,500 so far with more funds being pledged each day, to go towards assisting with the world wide relief efforts.

I would like to think that all of us within the association (WACS) can dig deep into our pockets at both regional and national level to do our part in helping to bring some relief and compassion to those that most definitely are less fortunate than us. We all have roofs over our heads, we all have dry clothes, we all have clean sanitation and we all have a multitude of other conveniences available to us to make our daily lives seem like that of a king or an emperor compared to those displaced by this force of nature.

I believe that our ability to assist at this time would demonstrate WACS' commitment and fortitude when addressing humanitarian issues such as this.

I thank you for your time and sincerely hope that you can give a little of your economic resources at this time.

Regards
Gary Miller

Australian Fundraising Effort
By Gary Farrel

As you are all aware there has been a significant disaster within the Asian region and as chefs we have an opportunity to help, along with a responsibility to assist those in need, in fact as a human being I believe we should show humanitarian support for those families that have been either displaced and/or are missing loved ones.

What people are experiencing can not be felt, neither can it be an easy task, the whole world needs to act and needs to act now!!! As a father, I cannot imagine what people are going through neither would I want to but I am sure that in some very small way I can help those in need. In Melbourne I am going to make every effort to help raise funds for those persons affected. I have had discussion with some agencies regarding help and have discussed the following with them and would hope that each state of Australia follows suit and all those countries within the pacific forum band together as one united voice.

Message from Thailand
Written by Marco P. Brüschweiler

Here in Thailand, so far not many of the hotel employees have been under the casualties, are most of them were probably working, as over 80 % of the casualties are foreign tourists, and they are talking now of over 1,200. We are still trying to contact the president of the southern chapter in Phuket for get more information on the whereabouts of there members, but so far we are still not able to contact him or any other members of that committee. We estimate that probably they are busy repairing the damages in there hotels and houses, and telephone lines are mostly down, only mobile phone are still in service.

The worst areas are Phuket and the resort of Kau Lak, which is only 60 km north of Phuket. In Phuket 12 hotels are closed until further notice for renovation up to 6 -9 months. On the island of Kho Phi Phi, are only two hotels not or little damage out of 15, and in the Resort of Kau Lak all hotels and guest houses are partly or total damaged, there is also the highest death toll of foreigners in the southern part.

As soon as I have more information, I will write again. Take care all of you and have a safe move into the New Year.

Regards,
Chef Marco

Appeal for Help Through Singapore
By Devagi Sanmugam, from Devagi's Epicurean World Pte Ltd

A few of us are planning to leave on Sunday 2 Jan 2005 for India to give/cook food rations for the victims of Tsunami. We're paying for our own air fare and we have made arrangements for our accomodation too. As you'd have seen on TV lots of people and children are suffering from lack of food and clothes. I know that there are many organisations out there helping by collecting money, clothings etc.

I appeal to you to contribute some money so that we can buy the basic long lasting necessities like milk, biscuits, bread etc for these victims. If possible we want to pitch a tent to cook them a few meals. I think food is very important to all of us and we have plenty of it here. I do want to help them in someway and I know you too feel that you want to help. Perhaps you don't have the time to leave your work and responsibilities to go there to help. I want us all to start the new year by feeling that we have helped the less fortunate in some way.

Please either give me cash or make a cheque payable to “Devagi Sanmugam” and post it to
Devagi Sanmugam
52 Jalan Leban
Singapore 577589

Please also include your name and address so that I can send you the accounts. What I am planning to do is to get the amount collected from everyone audited and when I return with the receipts, we will have it audited and send you a copy. Rest assured, this is a service to mankind, the money you give wholeheartedly will be used for the Tsunami victims ONLY.

You can help further by collecting from your friends and colleagues and sending a lump sum cheque along with the list of people and the amount you have collected from them so that I can keep them updated of how their money was spent. I look forward to hearing from you ASAP.

I wish you a prosperous NEW YEAR .
Devagi Sanmugam

Swedish chef Sven Åke Larsson and Danish chef Gert Sørensen have received 1st class medals with golden crosses of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The orders were applied by the Finnish Chef Association and they were awarded for their promotional work for Finnish food culture. Chairman of the Finnish Chef Association Martti Lehtien said that the award recognised the wonders they have performed for the industry and was a way of thanking them for their long term cooperation.

600 students and corporate chefs, executive chefs and members of the South Indian Culinary Association (SICA) and various catering colleges participated in the first ever "Young Chefs' Programme in Chennai at the Vel's Institute of Catering on 30 November 2004 launched by Chef Manjit Singh Gill, President of Indian Federation of Culinary Associations. The launch of the Junior Forum in Bangalore and Chennai was a success which saw 300 new members enrolled. With further Junior Forums planned in other cities such as Coimbatore, Mumbai, Cochin and Delhi, IFCA expects to meet its target of 3,000 junior members by June 2005.

To become a member of IFCA Junior Forum to launch IFCA junior forum in your city please get in touch with ifcasecretary@yahoo.com

FOODEX JAPAN, Asia-Pacific’s largest food and beverage trade show, will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the show in 8-11 March 2005 at Makuhari Messe, Tokyo. In 2004, the show welcomed 105,487 professional visitors domestically and internationally to an exhibition scale of over 2,500 exhibiting companies from 75 countries / regions. In FOODEX JAPAN 2005, a significant proportion of visitors are expected from the food service industry, from all types of restaurants, cafes and other eateries from all the whole of Japan. This significant sector, where eating out is very much part of working life, offers a stable and attractive market, gathering a vast selection of foods and beverages across the globe. FOODEX JAPAN 2005 promises to be highly dynamic and exciting, presenting niche food products focus displays as well as highlights on up-to-date trends and forecasts for not only Japan, but also Asia and the world.

All Japan Cooks Association (AJCA) are very pleased to work more closely with the Organisers of FOODEX JAPAN to commemorate this occasion in 2005. AJCA intends to make known that cuisine in Japan is one of the most sophisticated, and the trade show will make available exciting menu ideas and innovations currently in the limelight and / or predicted to gain high public interest in the future. Japan is ground to consumers who are willing to try new or different dishes, where products may be tested and outcomes of products release into the market can be measured relatively quickly. In addition, with Japanese cuisine gaining huge momentum in the rest of the world, AJCA would like for world-wide chefs to take advantage of this unique opportunity to see and taste these kinds of products under one roof. A special Chef Lounge will be set up at the show and all WACS members may use this lounge freely.

ACJA and the Organiser of FOODEX JAPAN look forward to welcoming chefs and buyers from all regions and countries to feast on this rare opportunity for unlimited business imagination!

Food and beverage professionals may register for Advance Registration Tickets online from January, at www.jma.or.jp/foodex. For further information, do not hesitate to contact the Organiser of FOODEX JAPAN (Tel.: +81-3-3434-3453. Fax.: +81-3-3434-8076, E-mail: foodexinternational@convention.jma.or.jp).

Top Australian chef, Scott Webster, has been confirmed as a guest speaker at the World Association of Cooks’ Societies (WACS) 2006 Congress which is to be held in Auckland, New Zealand.

2006 congress director, Murray Dick, said Webster would be seeking to share with delegates his wealth of international culinary expertise.

“Considered to be one of the leading experts of new emerging cuisine, he will display his unique style of preparing fresh meat, game, fish, seasonal vegetables and fruit,” Murray said.

During his career, Webster has worked extensively throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia.

After training at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, he worked at The Savoy in London and The Grand Hotel in Leysin, Switzerland. He has also worked at the prestigious Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles and was appointed co-ordinating chef for the athlete’s village at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada.

“During the 1990s, he travelled extensively on behalf of the Australian food industry developing a wide range of dishes to promote Australian cuisine internationally.”

He currently co-owns Osia Restaurant and Long Bar in London which feature dishes that are a fusion of Australian ingredients and the best of European meat, game, fish, seasonal vegetables and fruits.

Food Ingredients Asia -China is a great way to explore the opportunities in the entire Chinese food market as exhibitors from all over exhibit their wide range of food ingredients, from nutrition to dairy products and from confectionery products to functional food. The event will be held from 1 to 3 March 2005 at the Shanghai Everbright Covention and Exhibition Centre, China.

The 6th annual Wine Evolution: Global Sales & Marketing Forum will be held in Paris on 31 January and 1 February 2005. Over twenty industry leaders such as Christopher Carson, Mike Paul & David Cox will address the estimated 300 international wine professionals.

For more information, visit www.skalliandrein.com/winevolution/index.php.

The International Food Exhibition 2005 will be held from 13 to 16 March 2005 at ExCeL, London. The extensive varieties of food and drink on display from major international suppliers and manufacturers will be a good platform for visitors to discover the latest trends in the industry. Besides the wares of an estimated 1,350 suppliers from 43 countries, there are also interactive hands-on demonstrations from professionals.

For more information, visit www.ife.co.uk