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Showdown in Shanghai
By Weihua Watson
Once again, PMQ’s Pizza Pavilion was the highlight of China’s largest food and hospitality show, FHC China 2007, held in Shanghai on November 14 to 16, 2007. No one had any trouble fi nding the Pizza Pavilion on the huge show fl oor—all you had to do was look for the huge crowd of people with nonstop fl ashing cameras and loud applause for the U.S. Pizza Team acrobatic performances. Cooking demonstrations by the Australian Pizza Team wowed audience members while everyone got reacquainted with old friends from last year’s show.
The Pizza Industry Information Center was set up to help educate prospective pizza entrepreneurs about the business. This year, the center showcased products such as Fonterra cheese, Hormel meat toppings, McCormick pizza sauce and herbal spices, Armanino Foods frozen pesto, the Intura Chinese POS system, PESI’s new Pro Series Oven, Ecolab restaurant sanitization equipment and Somerset pizza rollers.
The 2007 Chinese Pizza Championships were held in the Pizza Pavilion for three afternoons, with this year’s crown going to Chef Peter Liu from Pizzeria Calzone (Dongguan, Guangdong) for his gourmet traditional Italian-style pizza. Liu will join last year’s champion, Wenbai Fan (Melrose Pizza, Shanghai), at PMQ’s New York Pizza Show to compete for the America’s Plate in March.
According to PizzaNews.com.au, the Chinese Pizza Championship competitors were put to the test at FHC China, and the pizza designs featured presentations that differed from past years: This year, their pizzas emulated the American style, moving toward thin-crust gourmet.
Thanks again to our generous sponsors: Fonterra (China), Armanino Foods, Intura Solutions, Ecolab (China), Pizza Equipment Supply Inc., McCormick (China) and Hormel (China). We wouldn’t able to bring the Pizza Pavilion to China without your help and support!
Thank you also to our Australian industry friends Cathy and Stephen Millar (former PMQ Australia co-publisher); Theo Kalogeracos from Little Caesars in Mundaring, Western Australia (a multi-award-winning pizzaiolo and a fixture in the Australian pizza scene who has also opened pizza shops in China and Jakarta, Indonesia); Brandon Farrell from Stones Pizza in North Perth, Western Australia; and business coach Darrel Vecchio from Bizmatrix. Lastly, we can’t forget the businesses that helped bring the Aussie team to China: Variety Foods (Perth), Wards Packaging (Perth), ABP-Atlas (Melbourne) and Duncraig Packaging (Perth). Thank you!
If you’re interested in going to China with PMQ’s Shanghai Pizza Pavilion, please contact Weihua Watson at weihua@pmq.com or call 662-234-5481, ext. 128, for more information. You can also visit the PMQ China website at www.pmq.com for more details on PMQ’s China Pizza Magazine.