Returning to Sydney for its 29th year, Australia’s largest and most comprehensive trade show for the food industry welcomed massive crowds across four days in September.

Fine Food Australia exhibition manager Minnie Constan said this year’s Bakery World boasted the biggest collection of baking and patisserie-related products and services in the event’s history.

“Bakery is a special industry as it crosses over between retail, foodservice and hospitality industries and was of interest to virtually all visitors. With the biggest Bakery World ever in 2013, the exhibition showcased enough ingredients and products to satisfy the needs of anyone interested in the bakery industry – all in one place,” Minnie said.

“The competitions and demonstrations on offer were also a massive draw card to Bakery World. Visitors enjoyed watching Bake Skills Australia, the Great Aussie Meat Pie Competition and the live bakery area unfold during the four days of the show. It was a very successful section the overall exhibition.”

As it is every year, innovation was a focus of the event, with the New Product Showcase highlighting several up-and-coming products, services and equipment designed to make life easier and more cost-effective for food professionals.

The awards, which are designed to celebrate the best and most innovative products launched in the past 12 months, were judged by independent industry experts.

This year’s winners of the Best New Product Awards were:

• Best New Bakery Product: Pac Food – Biodegradable Piping Bag

• Best New Hospitality Equipment Product: Cookon Commercial Catering Equipment – Kay Bee Battery Operating Oil Filter Machine

• Best New Rtail Product: Chenco Foods – Yum Cha Prawn and Chive Wonton

• Australian Made Award: Stoddart Manufacturing – Mobile Fryer

• Best New Foodservice Product: Lotus and Ming – Rustic by Lotus and Ming

For the judges of the Best New Bakery Product – Bourke Street Bakery owner Paul Allam, Baker D Chirico owner Daniel Chirico and Shangri La executive pastry chef Anna Polyviou – Pac Food’s Biodegradable Piping Bag ticked all the right boxes for its durability, marketability and cost-efficiency.

Pac Food owner Harald Hendriks said his team was humbled with the win and hoped the recognition would assist the company widen the product’s distribution network and customer base.

“We knew we had a great product, but were surprised with the win as these kind of awards usually go to bigger companies,” he said.

“Feedback from the show was very positive and confirmed there is definitely a niche in the market for our biodegradable piping bags because of the price point and because of the environmentally-friendly aspect.”

The piping bags are the result of more than three years of research, with Harald saying the product was given the thumbs up from several Queensland bakers and pastry chefs during its testing phase.

“We experimented with the structure of the bag, trying a single layer and then a double layer. Some attempts failed and others worked and gradually we improved the product to a point where we all said, ‘this is it’,” he said.

“It was tested at Jupiters Hotel and Casino, on the Gold Coast. The pastry chefs there do a lot of piping and can be quite rough. So we knew the quality was suitable for the commercial baking market.”

Fine Food Australia will return in 2013 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre for what is sure to be another exciting showcase of the Australian food industry’s most innovative, creative and successful offerings.