Welcome

Welcome to the fifth issue of the USAPEEC ASEAN Regional Office.

The newsletter seeks to provide readers with useful product and major market information for institutional and consumer users of U.S. poultry. Readers will find in every issue a variety of general market information, program activities as well as useful product information.

This month, we take a look at several market perspectives in the individual ASEAN countries.

Contents:

• Cambodian traders and retailers show keen interest in imported foods.
• Cambodia Culinary Competition
• Poultry workshop held at TOTTS Culinary Studio
• Processed eggs – the smart business move
• More and more Singapore cafes go halal

Additional Market Information Available

We have updated our website to include more information on market reports and export documentation guidelines.

You can visit our ASEAN website at: www.usapeecasean.com

Cambodian traders and retailers show keen interest in imported foods

The CAMFOOD Show, Cambodia’s premier international food and beverages show, took place in Phnom Penh during October 8-10 2014. The show attracted over 300 exhibitors from 16 countries with a wide range of food products, hotel and catering equipment on show.

USAPEEC Singapore managed a 36 square-meter booth featuring frozen poultry products and handing out samples of poultry dishes to trade visitors. Three private sector companies representing US poultry products displayed various poultry products and promotional materials in the USAPEEC booth.

Trade visitors crowd US poultry booth

Cambodia Culinary Competition

The Cambodia Culinary Competition was held in conjunction with the CAMFOOD Show. USAPEEC was one of the main sponsors of the Culinary Competition. Chefs from over 15 major hotels and restaurants participated in the culinary competition. U.S. poultry ingredients were specifically used in the poultry cooking section of the Competition.

The competition provided the opportunity for participants to showcase their creativity using a wide variety of local ingredients and flavours.

Participants at Cambodia Culinary Competition

Poultry workshops conducted at TOTTS Culinary Studio

Chef Eric Low conducted out a series of three hands-on workshops for office and restaurant management staff using U.S. poultry.Three separate workshops were conducted at TOTTS Culinary Studio for food service and office workers. Participants in all three workshops were provided with hands-on instructions on the preparation of the two dishes, Grilled U.S. boneless chicken drumsticks with mushroom cream sauce and Creativity Pasta Dish with US smoked turkey breast or chicken frankfurters.

Prior to the workshop sessions, almost all the participants were not aware of U.S. poultry, its nutritional aspects and the proper poultry handling methods. After the completion of the workshop sessions, more than 60 percent of the participants said they were more aware about U.S poultry.

Chef Eric’s workshop

Processed eggs - the smart business move

The term “egg products” often refer to processed, refrigerated, liquid, frozen, dried and pre-cooked products. Each year, about 60 per cent of the eggs produced in the US are used by consumers. Nine per cent are used by the food service industry and the rest are turned into egg products which are used mostly by food manufacturers and food service operators at quick serve restaurants.

Advantages of using egg products

Egg products are convenient and ready-to-use either in food manufacturing processes or as pre-cooked egg entrees. Egg products offer savings in labour and through the reduction of waste disposal. The use of processed eggs also results in reduced handling, shipping expenses and storage costs. Processed eggs are pasteurized to destroy salmonella and other micro-bacteria. Egg products can be stored over several months and maintain their quality throughout the lengthy storage period. In addition, egg products require far less space than fresh shell eggs. It is estimated that a hundred pounds of dried whole egg solids are equivalent to about 10 cases (360 large shell eggs per case) of large shell eggs.

Information Source: American Egg Board

Quick serve breakfast with omelette from processed egg

More and more Singapore cafes go halal

Although only 15 per cent of the Singapore population is Muslim, more and more cafes and small independently-owned family restaurants find it advantageous to operate halal establishments. Over the last five years, more than 900 restaurants have been certified halal.

What makes the new cafes and restaurants distinctive from traditional halal restaurants that serve only Malay cuisine is the innovative concept of offering western and Chinese cuisines in halal dining environments. The newly established halal cafes and restaurants offer a wide range of western breakfasts and meals including grilled beef steaks and hamburgers, Southern fried chicken, pancakes, waffles and other bakery products. In addition, halal restaurants now venture into Chinese street food cuisine like stir-fried carrot cake, oyster omelette, wonton noodles, popiah, tim sum and chilli crab.

It is estimated that over 2,500 eating establishments have obtained halal certification. This number is expected to grow as eager entrepreneurs strive to fulfil this gap of halal restaurants offering cuisines from other nationalities. Another advantage of being certified halal is the ability to offer both dining and catering services to large business organizations who have both Muslim and non-Muslim employees.