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Int'l Food & Beverage Forum Auction Off to A Fast Start - Great Opportunities Still Remain11/6/2013
Thinking of traveling to Asia, Middle East, or Africa? Well, the 2013 IF&BF HOF Auction started on November 1st at midnight and is off to a great start. However, amazingly, some great destination packages have yet to receive bids….especially in Asia, Middle East and Africa. In case you are making travel plans for next year, a great place to start is by looking at The International Food & Beverage Forum’s auction which features this year over hundred destinations. All proceeds of this auction go towards scholarships for young hospitality students. Over the past ten years the IF&BF auction has awarded 164 scholarships with a value over $800,000.00 and we have provided three College Campuses with tableware in the value of $ 300,000.00. The International Food & Beverage Forum auction website is www.biddingforgood.com/ifbf It’s easy……Register. Bid. Win. Enjoy!
As you know by now, The International Food & Beverage Forum's Annual Auction goes to support food & beverage students with scholarships. Over the past 16 years 164 scholarships were awarded in the United States, Australia, Germany, South Africa and Switzerland amounting to a total of close to US$ 800,000.00! Inspiring and creating great opportunities for young, aspiring food and beverage students has been a major part of the mission of the IF&BF since its beginning. This year over 115 hotels from five continents have donated stays; top restaurants from London, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing have donated dinners. The auction list also features a large selection of top wines and Ports. The total value of donations this year exceeds $ 200,000.00, which is one of the highest values since the IF&BF began doing auctions.
So, check out the auction items and get your bids ready! The website address is: www.biddingforgood.com/ifbf . We are told the site should be complete by the end of next week.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary year of support to the food and beverage industry, The International Food & Beverage Forum has helped a great number of young hospitality professionals to get a better start to their careers through the funding of scholarships. The IF&B Forum has also honored 17 Restaurateurs of the year and inducted 31 Hoteliers & Beverage Industry professionals into the International Food & Beverage Forum Hall of Fame which is located in Chicago.
For more information on the IF&B Forum and its auction, go here: http://www.foodandbeverageforum.com/
The International Food & Beverage Forum is a designated 501(c) (3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization by the U.S. government.
You can learn more about The International Food & Beverage Forum by going here: http://www.foodandbeverageforum.com/ The International Food & Beverage Forum Celebrates 20 Years of Supporting the Hospitality Industry4/12/2013
The International Food & Beverage Forum has announced it is celebrating its 20th anniversary year of support to the food and beverage industry. Having helped a great number of young hospitality professionals to get a better start to their careers through the funding of scholarships, the IF&B Forum has also honored 17 Restaurateurs of the year and inducted 31 Hoteliers & Beverage Industry professionals into the International Food & Beverage Forum Hall of Fame. On April 3rd, the group celebrated the 10th anniversary of their International Food & Beverage Forum Hall of Fame Society with a special toast at a group dinner held in Frankfurt. This year is set to be another busy year for the International Food & Beverage Forum says group Founder and President Kurt H. Fischer. “In addition to celebrating our 20th anniversary, we look forward inducting out 50th Honoree into The International Food & Beverage Forum’s Hall of Fame and we will be moving the permanent home of the IF&B Forum Hall of Fame to its new location in Chicago. Finally, last fall’s auction achieved a record level of sales allowing us to further fund the scholarship program that proves so helpful to those starting their hospitality careers. Our goal this year will be to improve upon this record-setting fundraising effort.” The International Food & Beverage Forum will hold its annual breakfast meeting in Chicago at the Chicago Hilton Magnificent Mile Suites during the National Restaurant Show to be held in mid-May. For more information on the International Food & Beverage Forum, please go here: www.foodandbeverageforum.com Not long ago, TabletopJournal wrote about the International Food & Beverage Forum’s Annual Online Auction. The International Food and Beverage Forum is global non-profit association of food & beverage industry executives who each year hold their Hall of Fame Summit Online Auction with the proceeds going to benefit scholarships for young people who aspire to develop their careers within the food and beverage industry.
During this year’s International Food & Beverage Forum Hall of Fame Summit 2012 in Las Vegas the group awarded seven scholarships to students of Le Cordon Bleu and admitted five students to “Honored Students” of their IF&BF Hall of Fame Society: Dia Young Michelle Basinski Shahar (Sam) Soloman Tiana Couto Tracy Davis According to Forum Founder and President, Kurt H. Fischer, “The scholarships are a cornerstone of our organization. One of our first recipients was a young lady by the name of Holly Dove. Holly is a top player in the pastry world in New York. Holly still keeps in touch with The Forum, more than 15 years after receiving her scholarship. Why? Because, with our scholarship, we helped provide for an opportunity to fulfill her dream of becoming a pastry chef. The giving of scholarships is really about the giving of opportunities. Further, we intentionally keep the membership within The Forum at a low number of members to minimize overheads so that the vast majority of our fundraising can go directly to helping the students.” The International Food & Beverage Forum is a designated 501(c) (3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization by the U.S. government. You can learn more about The International Food & Beverage Forum by going here:http://www.foodandbeverageforum.com/default_IFBF.asp Int'l Food & Beverage Forum: More Auction Items Come In As Online Bidding Is Set to Start10/24/2012
The online auction for The Food & Beverage Forum's Hall of Fame Summit is set to begin with online bidding on Thursday, Oct 25th at 6 AM EST and thanks to many last minute entries they now have 164 Auction items with a value over $ 200,000.00! Most on-line auction items are already posted on line but the full range of on-line and live auction items will be on line latest Saturday. Here's a direct link to the The Int'l Food & Beverage Forum Hall of Fame Summit auction item list: http://www.ifandbforumhalloffamesummit.com/auctions_2012.asp
Int'l Food & Beverage Hall of Fame Summit Online Auction to Raise Monies for Student Scholarships10/17/2012
The International Food and Beverage Forum is global non-profit association of food & beverage industry executives who each year hold their Hall of Fame Summit Online Auction with the proceeds going to benefit scholarships for young people who aspire to develop their careers within the food and beverage industry. The online auction will run from October 25th 06:00 AM EST to November 11th Midnight EST. The auction is posted online, along with the list of auction items and instructions for bidding: http://www.ifandbforumhalloffamesummit.com/auctions_2012.asp Kurt Fischer We had a chance to sit with Founder and President Kurt Fischer to discuss the food and Beverage Forum and specifically, the upcoming auction. Born in Stuttgart, Kurt is a former Corporate VP of Food and Beverage for Westin Hotels & Resorts and Regional Director of Food & Beverage for Hilton International. He is the also the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including being awarded an honorary Doctor of Business Administration of Food Service Management from Johnson and Wales University in 2001. Auction items are still being donated, but so far, The Forum has received over 150 donations that anyone can bid on with a total value over US$ 185,000.00. The list of auction items is being updated and will be continue to be updated right up until the actual bidding begins on October 25th. Tell us about the International Food & Beverage Forum….how was it founded and what is it all about? We founded the International Food & Beverage Forum was founded in 1993, while I was Vice President of Food & Beverage for Westin Hotels & Resorts. Along with the support of three Food & Beverage Vice Presidents and one Beverage Consultant, we wanted to create a global association of Food & Beverage industry representatives with the purpose to form a truly global think tank for this industry. Therefore each member of our association had to be recognized internationally for his/her achievements and high professional standards. Our goal was to cover all aspects of the upscale section in the Food & Beverage industry, so we recruited individuals representing segments such as upscale hotels, cruise lines, airlines, independent restaurants, education, Food & Beverage publications and others. So, that was nearly 20 years ago. The International Food & Beverage Forum has grown significantly- where is it today and what is the Forum’s mission? Today, The International Food & Beverage Forum has an active membership based on six continents and has participated in panel discussions and industry events in major cities on four continents. When we began, we outlined the structure of the association and created the mission to enhance global dialogue and knowledge of food and beverage. Early on, we also knew we wanted to foster the education of young hospitality professionals, so – with the help of major food and beverage related companies - we set up a scholarship fund. I’m happy to report that we have given over $600,000 in scholarships to deserving young hospitality students. The Forum’s annual Hall of Fame Summit is coming up in November. Tell us about that…What is it? How can people get involved? One of the founders of the International Food & Beverage Forum was food & beverage legend Fred Rufe who had for many years been instrumental in developing food and beverage concepts with hotel groups like Hilton International, Marriott, and with top restaurants like Tavern on The Green, Four Seasons in New York, and many others. When Fred Rufe passed away, we wanted to keep his legacy alive and the best way we thought was to honor top F&B individuals from around the world, so the Hall of Fame and the Summit was begun. Fred Rufe and Ruth’s Chris Steak House’s Ruth Fertel were the first honorees and scholarships were given in their names. In fact, when Ruth Fertel was honored, she was so excited that she personally doubled the scholarship amount given in her name. We started with 2 scholarships worth $5,000 each annually then decided we needed to do more. So, now we average 3 inductees and six scholarships in their names that average $30,000. In addition, last year, we gave our first two international scholarships to a small culinary school in South Africa. Earlier this year, we gave three international scholarships to École Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland. Our goal is to give scholarships and to honor inspirational, role model figures in the hospitality food and beverage world that young people can look up to. People like Steve Wynn, Robert Mondavi, Alain Ducasse, Agustin Huneeus and other industry role models have been among our many honorees. The key here is to make young people aware of the passion we have for our industry. Passion is something you cannot teach. Passion is something you see in people who inspire you. Passion is something you learn from people who often come from modest backgrounds to do something truly unique. Joël Robuchon – one of this year’s honorees – is an example of such an inspirational individual. Robuchon, whose middle class family was not at all involved in the culinary industry, developed his passion for food & beverage very early on. Today, he is one of the world’s most acclaimed food and beverage professionals. Passion makes all the difference. Because of his passion, young people look up to him. They learn from his curriculum and from him they understand how important it is when you do something special. That is why the Hall of Fame has become such an important part of our mission.
To see demonstrations from Joël Robuchon’ Chef Steve Benjamin, Toronto’s John Cirillo, Tom Colicchio’s Chef Robert Kirchhoff or Ed Leonard, former Team USA chef…then, obviously we have the wine pairings to go with each food dish….it’s all a very, very special food and beverage event for everyone who is there. Plus, it’s an extraordinary good time, to say the least! It’s a four day event and, once again, the monies generated help provide scholarships to deserving young people. Finally, can you tell us about the recipients of The Forum’s scholarships?
One of our first recipients was a young lady by the name of Holly Dove. Holly is a top player in the pastry world in New York. Holly still keeps in touch with The Forum, more than 15 years after receiving her scholarship. Why? Because, with our scholarship, we helped provide for an opportunity to fulfill her dream of becoming a pastry chef. The giving of scholarships is really about the giving of opportunities. With our scholarships, we gave a German student Michael Sänger a chance to come to the United States and learn in a totally different environment than he knew previously. This is what comes about….a number of our scholarship recipients have had opportunities to work with world –renowned chefs like Gérard Vié in Paris or Alain Ducasse. Additionally, The Forum provides scholarship recipients an opportunity to make connections in the food and beverage world and further fuel their passion. We intentionally keep the membership within The Forum at a low number of members to minimize overheads so that the vast majority of our fundraising can go directly to helping the students. We are a designated 501(c) (3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization. This incredible auction is perfect for anyone loves to travel, loves great food and great wines. This auction is also a great way to plan your next year’s travel with great deals, to give great gifts to loved ones or to give a special thank you to associates. Please keep in mind that every dollar collected will give a student a chance to improve his/her career! So, take a couple of minutes and review the list of spectacular auction items. We know you’ll be as impressed as we are. |
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