Australia’s biggest food event (Fine Food 2017) is back and, this year, it’s bringing the drinks too!

Fine Food will be cooking up a storm in Sydney’s newly refurbished International Convention Centre from September 11-14. The four-day celebration of everything new in food is, for the first time, running alongside a brand-new event, Commercial Drinks.

Commercial Drinks is dedicated to venues that serve alcohol on premise and will feature unique craft and artisanal beer, spirits and boutique wine brands. It’ll run on Level 1 alongside Fine Food for the duration of the show.

At Fine Food 2017 Competition, the stages will be packed with our leading chefs and innovators. On The Innovations in Patisserie Stage you’ll find pastry chefs the likes of Adriano Zumbo, Darren Purchese, and Kirsten Tibballs, who’ll be demonstrating desserts, cakes and more.

Returning in 2017 will be the experienced EOI bakery team. They’ll be showcasing new recipes, holding baking demonstrations, sharing their tips and offering expert advice to bakers from the EOI Live Bakery.

The list of topics being discussed on the Talking Food Stage is long. A panel about entrepreneurship will hear from some of the food industry’s most successful entrepreneurs; Diem Fuggersberger, Zae Greenwood and Christopher Dair. Other speakers include Chris Grinham and Rachel Luchette, who’ll be talking restaurant design, Dianne McGrath, who’ll be speaking about waste, and the people behind Doughnut Time and Black Star Pastry who’ll be discussing branding.

The Women in Foodservice Charity Event is also back for its fourth year. The brunch celebrates women in the food industry and you’ll hear from speakers such as Christine Mansfield, Lauren Eldridge and Danielle Alvarez.

When it comes to the latest and greatest in product innovation, the New and Export Ready Product Showcase is the place to be. There, you’ll find the most exciting product launches to hit the foodservice, catering, retail and bakery industries.

Fine Food is also known for its hotbed of competition and this year will be no different. The extensive competition program will include the Nestle Golden Chefs Hat Award Final Series, World skills Cookery and Butchery competitions, ACF Most Outstanding Chef and ACF Most Outstanding Pastry Chef 2017 and many more exciting competitions.

Here’s what to expect:

World Skills Competition:

New to Fine Food Australia is the World Skills Competition. The competitions are a one-day event where individuals will be benchmarked against their peers to show who the best is in their chosen skill (Cookery, Retail Butchery or Restaurant Service).

Bake Skills Australia:

Apprentice bakers from each state will compete in a live bakery challenge across a range of product categories including specialty and artisan breads, pretzels, croissants and more.

Nestle Golden Chef’s Hat:

The National Final of Australia’s longest running culinary competition will see finalist teams cook-off live in front of an industry audience in entrée, main and dessert course categories.

Official Great Aussie Pie Competition:

Returning to Fine Food Australia is the Official Great Aussie Pie Competition and 4th Official Great Aussie Sausage Roll Competition. Taking place for the 28th year, it will feature the categories: Plain Meat Pie (Plain, Chunky and Plain/Chunky Combo); Gourmet Pie = Red Meat, Poultry, Game Vegetarian, Seafood, Gluten Free, Apple, Brekkie Pie/Plain; and Gourmet Sausage Roll. The Footy Pie category is also returning after being such a hit last year.

Australian Culinary Federation—Culinary Challenge:

Chefs, trainees and apprentices will have the opportunity to pit their skills against each other and against the clock, competing for a share of up to $10,000 in cash and prizes.