Spotlight on EXPOGAST and the Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup

Horeca

Have you heard of the international gastronomic sensation “Made in Luxembourg”?

EXPOGAST and the Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup are two gastronomic events that have been organised for half a century. Yet few people are familiar with all its many aspects.

Both a gastronomy and tableware exhibition as well as a prestigious international competition, the event - which is open to all - is only held every four years. This allows time for all the preparations to be made from one edition to the next. The event is a real logistical feat, made possible by the commitment of a network of loyal sponsors, committed partners and passionate friends who want to offer a unique showcase for gastronomy, its values and professions.

On the one hand, the organisers - Luxexpo The Box, the Vatel Luxembourg and brain&more - and on the other, the many major sponsors of the event, as well as the partners, are providing their resources and know-how to contribute to the monument that is EXPOGAST. Thanks to this network, Luxembourg is able to host the world’s elite gastronomy.

“EXPOGAST and the Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup are like a Luxembourgish ‘auberge espagnole’. Everyone contributes their best features, and, in the end, the celebration is a success”, as Mr Morgan Gromy, CEO of Luxexpo The Box, so rightly points out.

The list of sponsors and partners is quite a gotha of local and international gastronomy. First and foremost, Villeroy & Boch is honoring the competition with its name and has teamed up with contemporary artist SUMO to offer an exclusive collaboration presented at a recent press conference.

La Provençale will transform an entire hall into an unforgettable and multi-sensory experience. Boissons Heintz will provide equipment and a wide selection of the finest wines in the restaurants, while Les Sources Rosport will provide the drinking water. Another selection of wines and spirits will be provided by Wengler Châteaux & Domaines.

Party Rent will take care of the logistics concerning all the dishes. The catering company Traiteur Paul Eischen will organise the opening and closing ceremonies. The Luxembourg vineyards will also be well represented with the Institut Viti-Vinicole, the Vignerons Indépendants, Caves Bernard-Massard and Domaines Vinsmoselle.

To ensure that everything runs smoothly, the organisers can also rely on renowned partners such as the cold chain specialist Petit Forestier Luxembourg, Codex Events for all the technical aspects, AMT for the loan of utensils and Lowe Rental, which is providing the 12 professional kitchens for the competition.

The École d’Hôtellerie et de Tourisme du Luxembourg (EHTL) is providing its infrastructure, all of its staff and 300 students, who will work voluntarily to ensure the success of the event. EXPOGAST and the Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup also create or confirm new vocations and present the opportunity to add a great experience to your curriculum.

“EXPOGAST and the Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup play an essential role in creating upcoming chefs of the highest quality in Luxembourg. The event is a platform for promoting the culinary professions and an incentive for talent”, insists Mr. Alain Hostert, Vice-President of the Vatel Luxembourg.

“What drives us to support this event is its unifying role, the ability to bring people together and the values embodied by gastronomy, particularly the notion of sharing. It is also the fact that we can encourage young talents and help them to realise their dreams and aspirations”, says Mr Morgan Gromy, CEO of Luxexpo The Box, who announced just recently that he had begun a process of transforming the exhibition centre with a vision of creating events that are socially and environmentally beneficial.

The Chamber of Commerce, the Fédération Nationale des Hôteliers, Restaurateurs et Cafetiers du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg HORESCA, the Chamber of Trades, the Federation of Craftsmen and the Ministry of the Economy have been added to the long list of supporters of EXPOGAST and the Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup. Thus, the names of the sponsors unite and attract nearly 200 exhibitors to the event, which covers tens of thousands of square metres of exhibition space.

EXPOGAST exhibition also targets the general public

The event is a must for gourmets and epicureans who want to taste and buy products that cannot be found elsewhere. Tens of thousands of visitors attend each edition.

In addition to gourmet food products, everything related to tableware, table linen, decoration, food processors, cutlery, utensils, etc. will be on display. Exhibitors will seize the opportunity to present their new products, making EXPOGAST a unique venue for discovering new trends.

Several restaurants will be set up and will serve exceptional dishes for lunch and dinner. A perfect place to invite your family, friends or clients.

This year, EXPOGAST’s programme of events, conferences and workshops will be expanded. For the first time, the event will welcome gelato manufacturers who will prepare their specialities live and offer them to the public for tasting. Children will also be particularly well cared for at this year’s event, with three workshops dedicated to them. The full programme will be announced in mid-November.

Several facts and numbers about the Villeroy & Boch Culinary World Cup

55 countries will be competing this year. For the first time, the competition will welcome top chefs from Australia, Japan, Armenia and France. The event will receive worldwide media coverage with 150 journalists accredited for the occasion, including several national channels.

Journalists and the public will be invited to watch the great chefs surpass themselves in the kitchen, transcending the ingredients, all in an atmosphere of emulation. The competition is on the agenda, as the avant-garde of gastronomy from the five continents will meet in Luxembourg.

“The 75 teams, i.e., 400 competitors in all, have been training for months, and the preparations will continue in the kitchens of the hotels that will host them during the World Cup. We are dealing with real athletes who are sometimes followed by a delegation of masseurs, physiotherapists, etc.” reveals Alain Hostert, Vice President of the Vatel Luxembourg.

Everyone can enjoy the competition dishes!

As a unique concept in the world, visitors can also taste the dishes of the competition in the famous “Restaurant of the Nations”. To enjoy this unique experience, simply visit the website www.expogast.lu from 25 October 2022 at 2pm on to make a reservation for the menu of the country you wish to discover. The teams prepare their dishes continuously, without ever knowing if the plate that results will be the one evaluated by a jury of 70 international gastronomy experts. For the public, this is a guarantee of the highest level of quality imaginable and a chance to taste dishes from all continents prepared by the best chefs. Every dish is a competition!