WGS Awards of Excellence

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is the Awards being established?
The Awards of Excellence is first established to celebrate the spectrum of talent found within Singapore's F&B and hospitality industries as well as recognize those who have achieved a distinct reputation for providing world class experiences. The Awards, which are endorsed by STB, will attract both international and local media attention as the only national (regional) award that recognizes the best in that Singapore (Asia) has to offer.

Our goal is to make the awards as reputable as the ones presented by the James Beard Foundation, Wine Spectator, and Good Food Guide by Sydney Herald Tribune. Finalists of the awards will be recognized to be the finest outlet/products/personalities in its class for food & beverage experiences.

In addition, these awards would enhance the World Gourmet Summit as Asia's foremost gastronomic event and endeavor to position Singapore as a hub for gourmets to meet and enjoy.


2. What is the objective of the Awards? What do you hope to achieve from recognising the professionals in the food industry?
Singapore has a pool of talented chefs and food professionals and upscale restaurants. Some of them have received top awards overseas for their expertise.

These include: One Gold Medal for Pastry, One Gold Medal for Hot Cooking (Restaurant Category), and One Silver Medal each for Buffet and Vegetarian Platter at the recent Culinary Olympic IKA (Olympia der Koche Ergebnisse) 2000 at Efurt, Germany.

We see the need to give them due recognition in Singapore as well. The Awards thus serve to provide a platform to acknowledge these culinary experts and F&B professionals who will help in elevating Singapore's culinary culture and image, and contributing to our objective of developing Singapore as a Gourmet Capital.

3. How does it contribute to positioning Singapore as a Gourmet Capital? Does it help in attracting more visitors to Singapore?
The Awards take after the other renowned culinary awards already in the marketplace such as the James Beard Foundation Awards in New York, USA.

The Awards, being the premier national recognition event in this field, will present the "cream of the crop" in the Singapore F&B industry. This will heighten both the status of the industry and Singapore's image in the international culinary arena. We deem that this stature will attract more restaurants or food-related events to Singapore thus adding to the vibrancy in the F&B scene and open up new opportunities and spur challenges. This plays an important role in making Singapore an eventful city and helps entice more visitors to the destination.

4. How does the Awards help in maintaining the standards of the Singapore F&B and Hospitality industries?
We perceive the Awards as the F&B/hospitality industries' performance indicator; it serves to raise the profile and standards of the industries and give recognition to the winners. The Awards also add credibility to the winning culinary professionals in the eyes of foreign visitors and locals alike. It will also spur the industries on to consistently maintain and excel in the standards set.

Two scholarships are also established for the Awards. These scholarships are given out to individuals who have demonstrated potential. They help nurture our future chefs and thus maintain a consistent pool of professionals that can serve the industries well.

5. Does it promote cooking as an art? How does it entice more people to embrace cooking as a profession?
The Awards will promote cooking as an art form. It will raise the awareness, perception and image of the profession and eventually encourage more people to take it up. The Awards will then serve to motivate these professionals to consistently provide high quality standards in their fields.

6. What is the future of the Awards?
Presently, the Awards focus on the Singapore's F&B and hospitality industries. The Awards will be expanded to include regional nominees in the subsequent years. We hope to develop the Awards as the one-of-its-kind, prestigious culinary recognition program in the region. This will reposition Singapore's as the gourmet leader in the region.

7. Who are the judges? How does the committee select the judges?
The judges are appointed by the organising committee which comprises of representatives from the STB and Peter Knipp Holdings. The judging panel comprises of culinary and F&B professionals, suppliers, fine food and wine merchants, media journalists, restaurant critics, food and wine connoisseurs and members of the wine and food associations.

We handpicked the judges from the various fields, all experts and highly regarded in their own field, who are connoisseurs and able to appreciate the basis of wining and dining.

8. How many nominees are there? How many nominees does STB hope to achieve next year?
Our 250 jurors will nominate a maximum of 5 names for each of the 15 Awards. It is not compulsory to fill in all 5 names, as we believe the choices made should base on individual expectations and experiences. Thus, the total number of nominations should not take priority. Instead, the focus should be placed on the credibility and the so-called, quality of the nominees. We believe all our jurors will contribute to their best based on individual experiences.

9. What are the nomination mechanics? What are the judging criteria?
All award categories were opened on November 1, 2000. All nominations must were completed in the official nomination form and submitted by December 8, 2000.

The first round of nomination by the 250 selected judges follow a set of requirements (printed on the nomination form) which vary from category to category.

For example, the nominees for the Best Chef of the Year category should meet the requirements: involvement in restaurant operations in Singapore, has consistently excelled in the culinary art as well as provided for excellent dining experiences. Whereas, for the Best Culinary Institution Award's requirements are: local culinary institution that provides part/full time courses/classes for the enrichment of knowledge and expertise within the field of the culinary arts. The course must provide for a high standard of learning and must be conducted in a formal learning environment.

Nominations for the various categories will then be tabulated and the 5 highest-ranking nominations in each category will proceed to the next round of selection by a panel of 100 judges. The 3 highest-ranking nominees for each category are established. They will then proceed to the next round for a re-evaluation. These top 3 scoring nominations are named as finalists. The finalists will be reassessed by a panel of judges. Judges will nominate a winner for each category based on the overall merits of the nominees. (Please see attached evaluation process chart for details). The 3 finalists for each category will be announced on February 28, 2001.

The judging criteria vary from category to category. The criteria for the Best Chef of the Year may include: culinary talent, skills, creativity, personality, recognition, popularity, media exposure, enthusiasm, dedication, professionalism, while the Life Achievement Awards would include personality, dedication and their contribution and impact to the industry.

10. What are the prizes?
In addition to the recognition by the industry professionals, a certificate will be presented to all finalists while a specially designed trophy will be presented to the Grand Award Recipients. No cash rewards will be presented.

11. When will the results of the winners be revealed?
Results will only be made known during the Awards Presentation Ceremony on April 22, 2001.

12. How is this Award different from the others?
There have been awards by various media to recognize restaurants, service staff, etc. in Singapore over the past years. These awards were based on votes and popularity. In addition, the categories for the awards were limited. In view of the above, WGS Awards of Excellence aims to recognize culinary professionals/organizations/entities for their undisputed excellence and achievement in their respective fields based on stringent criteria and judging standards. These awards will be recognized on an international basis. These awards will also serve as a benchmark for recognizing excellence of service, creativity and talent that are available within the local arena, and in so doing serve as an encouragement and incentives to the younger professionals to aspire to.

13. How does STB/Peter Knipp Holdings market the Awards?
Here are the promotional activities:

• press release will be sent to major food and lifestyle publications, newspaper food and wine, and lifestyle journalists
• press conference to announce the finalists on Feb 28
• website
• New Asia Cuisine and Wine Scene Magazine
• E-zine
• Posters
• Advertisements
• Souvenir Booklet
• Participation and cross promotions at other established gourmet events in the world eg St Moritz Gourmet Festival (eg featuring our winners in such events) · Align our Awards with established culinary awards such as James Beard Foundation Awards in USA (eg possibly inviting representatives of the Foundation as panel judges)

Publicity are also done internationally by our STB overseas offices on both the SFF and World Gourmet Summit (incorporating the Awards) through press releases, media educationals, tour packages, advertising, and consumer promotions. The STB will also plan for the winners of the Awards to be featured in overseas promotions and align the Awards activities to other renown awards such as the James Beard Foundation Awards.