Hong Kong’s food service industry is increasingly prioritizing local and regional sourcing over global supply chains. Restaurants are highlighting fresh, high-quality ingredients from nearby producers, allowing diners to better connect with the city’s culinary identity. For example, Chef Vicky Lau started her own local soymilk brand An Soy, sourcing soybeans from farms in the New Territories to create a line of artisanal plant-based dairy products.
This trend towards conscious, sustainable sourcing carries environmental benefits by reducing food miles. While procurement challenges remain, Hong Kong’s food businesses are rising to meet consumer demand for transparency and responsibility, cementing the city’s food culture in its local roots.
Daniel Calvert, a cherished customer of Classic Fine Foods Japan, took top spot for Asia 50 Best Restaurants but also ranks 15th in the World 50 Best Restaurants award.
To dine at Sézanne is to experience the epitome of culinary sophistication. Opened in July 2021 on the seventh floor of the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi with British chef Daniel Calvert at the helm, it immediately wowed diners with its immersive neo-French style infused with meaningful tributes to Asia’s rich culinary cultures.
Singapore has always been a leader in alternative proteins, focusing on food sustainability and security. Limited agricultural land has driven innovation in plant-based and cultured meats, supported by government initiatives and a thriving startup ecosystem.
The relationship between CFF Singapore and Vow began over two years ago when Mickael Penvern, former Business Manager of Alt Protein introduced us to Vow and their pioneering product, Forged. This introduction marked the start of a collaborative journey characterized by continuous improvement and innovation.
Vow is a cultured meat company founded and operated in Sydney, Australia. They are a multidisciplinary team of scientists, technologists, and designers, all working together to make sustainable food both irresistible and available to billions of people. Vow launched through CFF Singapore their first product: Forged, a deliberately different cultivated meat product. To introduce the world to Forged, they aimed to create something wildly delicious and previously unachieved – a meat we haven’t seen on our plates before.
Forged is Vow’s groundbreaking product, a cell-based creation. The process involves taking a tiny portion of cells from quail and cultivating them to produce meat. Vow explored hundreds of different species and found that with cultured Japanese quail, they could craft a rare pairing – a rich umami flavor with a weightless, melt-in-your-mouth quality. This led to the creation of Forged Parfait, a unique and deliberately different product from anything tasted before.
Initially, the Classic Fine Foods Alt Proteins team conducted product tastings to evaluate the quality and potential of Forged, providing detailed feedback to Vow. They took our feedback seriously, returning to Australia to refine their recipe based on our inputs. This iterative process ensured that the product met our taste-profile standard.
Thanks to Singapore’s forward-thinking stance on approving cultured-based products we were able to launch Forged and becoming the first distributor of cultured meat in the world. Our collaboration with Vow started with a series of dinners at the Mandala Club, where industry professionals, trailblazers, ecosystem partners, government representatives, and investors had the opportunity to experience Forged firsthand. In a world-first, Mandala Club hosted Forged for a two-week residency at MORI, offering members and guests a unique dining experience featuring cultured Japanese quail, introducing an entirely new flavor to the menu.
This journey of partnership, feedback, and innovation allowed us to bring a revolutionary product to market and positioned CFF as leader and first-in-mind in promoting and distributing cell-based products to the food industry.
In recent years, we have observed a significant rise in the popularity of Bistro-style restaurants across the UK. These establishments, known for their casual yet sophisticated dining experiences, have captured the hearts of many food enthusiasts. Drawing inspiration from this trend, Classic Fine Foods UK is proud to introduce soon a new Bistro/Brasserie range.
This range is designed to offer a variety of high-quality products that reflect the essence of the Bistro & Brasserie dining. From authentic French dishes to niche ingredients, our new range aims to meet the growing demand for gourmet yet accessible dining options.
By launching this range, we hope to reach a broader audience and bring the Bistro dining experience to more customers. Our commitment to quality and excellence ensures that every product in this range follows the standards that Classic Fine Foods is known for.
