Food culture and mobility in Vietnam in the development of cultural industry

(To Quoc) - The C asean Vietnam 2024 Sharing Session: Perspectives on culinary culture and mobility in Vietnam was recently held in Hanoi. The event gathered experts from many fields including international culinary review units, restaurant association alliances, transportation service providers, chefs and restaurant founders.

In the context of Vietnamese cuisine being recognized and increasingly asserting its position on the world map, the sharing session focused on discussing opportunities to promote Vietnamese culinary culture, while taking advantage of current travel and tourism trends to promote Vietnamese culinary culture internationally.

Experts from various fields including international food review units, restaurant association alliances, transportation service providers, chefs and restaurant founders shared at the event.

At the event, Mr. Chu Hong Minh, Chairman of the Restaurant Association of Vietnam (RAV) and the ASEAN Restaurant Association Alliance (ARAA), shared that with the goal of making Vietnam one of the new Culinary Capitals of the World by 2030, the Vietnam Restaurant Association is focusing on three main pillars including Resource Development and Cooperation; Communication and Culinary Economic Development. As the Chair of the ASEAN Restaurant Association Alliance in 2024 - 2025, the projects and initiatives of the Vietnam Restaurant Association will focus on (1) Culinary competitions, (2) Promoting culinary trade between ASEAN countries and the world, (3) Training programs to improve operational efficiency for small and medium-sized restaurants, (4) Promoting culinary tourism in the ASEAN bloc.

In addition to activities to enhance development cooperation within the ASEAN bloc, Vietnam also has strategic cooperation with leading organizations in the world such as the World Association of Master Chefs (WAMC); the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and especially the World Food Travel Association (WFTA), especially with 2 awards to enhance the world's recognition in the field of Restaurants and Culinary Tourism, including the Global Culinary Travel Awards for 7 types of businesses in the Culinary Tourism value chain and the Culinary Capitals Award for Vietnam's potential cities.

Mr. Ahmad Faiez Mohamed Pisal, General Director of Michelin Vietnam, introduced the development history of Michelin Brand over 130 years. Keeping up with the pace of world development, Michelin is aiming to build a strategy to become the world's leading manufacturer of materials and experiences that help change the quality of life with technological know-how as well as unique innovation capabilities. With the goal of achieving zero net emissions by 2050, Michelin implements the "All Sustainable" strategy that ensures the balance between 3 factors: People - Performance - Planet.

With the desire to facilitate people traveling by motorbike, the MICHELIN Guide was first introduced in 1900 and has become the international standard for providing information about restaurants and hotels. By 2020, the Michelin Green Star was born to honor pioneering dining establishments in building sustainable cuisine, providing an experience that combines the excellence of dishes with a serious commitment to environmental friendliness.

Regarding the Green Star Award, Mr. Faiez Pisal believes that the greatest significance of this award is to raise awareness and business philosophy on sustainable development for food service establishments in the correlation between behavior and environmental protection awareness. In addition to the meaningful achievements that Michelin has achieved in Vietnam such as eliminating nylon wrapping for motorbike tires or reducing 56% of CO2 emissions into the environment in 2023, Michelin is promoting innovation to bring a better, more sustainable future.

At the event, Ms. Dang Thuy Trang, Director of External Relations of Grab Vietnam, said that consumers are increasingly searching for new restaurants online. With real-time data analysis and support tools on the platform to optimize accessibility and promote restaurants and partners, Grab brings better experiences to users, contributing to the preservation and promotion of Vietnam's culinary diversity. Grab Vietnam has also cooperated with local tourism agencies to introduce information about dining locations to Grab users and tourists.

Ms. Summer Le, Founder and Executive Chef of Nén Danang & Nén Light Restaurant, shares about the restaurant’s successful sustainability initiatives, focusing on using traditional ingredients, developing people and preserving the philosophy of honoring traditional Vietnamese cuisine, through building meaningful stories behind each dish. As the first Vietnamese restaurant to receive a Michelin green star, she considers this award a responsibility to spread awareness of sustainable development. She emphasizes that sustainable food business is an achievable goal even in large cities.

Sharing about the business philosophy of focusing on people, Ms. Sam Tran, Co-founder and Head Chef of Gia Restaurant, believes that this is the main factor that helped the restaurant receive the prestigious Michelin star. The human factor of continuous learning and team spirit also plays an important role in creating the best culinary experiences. The concept of "not being afraid of change" is also highly valued at Gia, demonstrated by the fact that Gia regularly changes the menu to diversify the experience for diners. As an expert in traditional Vietnamese cuisine, she believes that she is a cultural ambassador for her country.

The sharing session clarified the close correlation between culinary culture and mobility, showing the great potential in promoting and developing Vietnamese cuisine, the creativity and innovative spirit of the Vietnamese culinary community in the context of international integration and cultural industry development.

The event is part of a series of sharing sessions by C asean Vietnam to promote the development and connection of ASEAN communities through in-depth discussions and exchanges on culture, arts, talent development and sustainable business./.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/culture-am-thuc-va-su-di-chuyen-tai-viet-nam-trong-phat-trien-cong-nghiep-van-hoa-20241219130156382.htm