METRO Cash & Carry and Indian Federation of Culinary Association present the METRO Business & Culinary Awards 2012

Bangalore, March 21, 2012: In advance of the 5th National Congress of the Indian Federation of Culinary Association 2012 to be held in Bangalore, METRO Cash & Carry India today announced the METRO Business & Culinary Awards 2012 to felicitate achievers in the Indian Hospitality Industry. The Awards were given across several categories, recognizing the Culinary Contribution and Business Achievement of some of the leading names in the Culinary World. Recipients include luminaries in the field of hospitality and haute cuisine including Chef Manjit Singh Gill, Chef Davinder Kumar, Chef MS Gupta, Chef Sabyasachi Gorai among others.

With a keen focus on customer centricity, METRO offers the F&B industry an interactive knowledge-sharing platform called METRO Chef-o-logy which allows young upcoming chefs to interact with renowned Chefs and food experts. METRO has also developed a variety of tailor-made solutions to service the needs of its partners, besides providing high-quality products, consistently available at competitive wholesale prices. As an active partner to the Hospitality Industry METRO Cash & Carry has been at the forefront in improving the range and quality of products and services available to customers. METRO’s wholesale centres offer an impressive array of over 3000 items ranging from grocery, spices and fresh produce to gourmet ingredients, culinary equipment, professional cookware and serve-ware.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Rajeev Bakshi, Managing Director of METRO Cash & Carry India said, “The METRO Business & Culinary Awards 2012 is our attempt to celebrate the partnership with our clients in the Hospitality sector and recognize the many ways in which they inspire the whole industry. It is METRO’s constant endeavour to support their immense creativity and professionalism with a deep and wide assortment, customized services and highest quality standards.”

This event was held ahead of the three-day 5th National Culinary Congress by IFCA which will bring together more than 600 culinary experts, including Corporate Chefs, Executive Chefs, Food & Beverage (F&B) managers and entrepreneurs of leading hotels and restaurants across India. As part of the event, a panel of distinguished speakers, comprising industry professionals, will discuss and share ideas on various topics including technical frontiers of the F&B industry, trends, Chef Competitions, food presentation techniques and more.

About METRO Cash & Carry

METRO Cash & Carry is represented in 30 countries with around 700 self-service wholesale centers. With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, the company achieved sales of approximately € 31 billion in 2011. METRO Cash & Carry is a sales division of the METRO GROUP. More information at www.metro.co.in.

About IFCA

Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) is a non-profit, apolitical organisation of culinary professionals and India’s sole representative in the World Association of Chefs Societies. It is the nodal agency of India’s regional culinary associations – the Indian Culinary Forum (ICF), the South India Culinary Association (SICA) and the Western India Culinary Association (WICA). Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) was created with the modus operandi of enabling development of the culinary profession. The primary focus of IFCA is the promotion of the culinary profession through various exchanges and innovations. IFCA aims at setting up more local chapters throughout the nation and include as many chefs into the IFCA family.

For media queries, contact: press@metro.co.in