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WACS Congress in Full Swing!

The third day of this congress began with the excellent work of WACS Auditor Norbert Schmidiger being approved.

This quick affair was followed by the report of the existing 5 Continental Directors. As those that have read the statutes will have realized by now, this number will be increased to 7 in the near future, and expansion is already in the air.

Rather than going into the intricacies of every director's report (which should be available soon via video), lets us just do a general commentary with feedback received from the floor. The best Continental Director's report by far was from Africa, where a clear and concise presentation by Dr. Bill Gallagher led the pack and was warmly welcomed. The other reports were somewhat a little off track, although each one did highlight the activities and successes of member countries in their region. Overall the feeling from the floor was that because each used an entirely different approach in presenting their reports, the lack of structure was obvious, and this is naturally going to be one of the challenges that faces the newly elected presidium.

This comment is not to belittle anyone's effort, quite the contrary, we know that all the directors have worked very hard. But it seems they have somewhat failed to bring the message across clearly. It would only be fair to assume that the detailed written reports do contain that sought-after clarity, and are put together in such away that all member countries can understand the content. www.wacs2000.org will make a concerted effort to publish whatever information is being disseminated.

Following the lengthy report, delegates were in for another treat - a presentation by Anthony Simon, who spoke at length on the topic of 'Consumer Insights'. This was welcomed by many participants, but just as many thought the presentation was a little too long - they almost forgot the content by the time it was finished! Some food for thought to future organizers. This is fantastic material, but it may not necessarily be relevant to all congress attendees. In fact it may be wise to have such topical presentations as part of optional workshops held during the congress. This for two reason: first, because we can then find out through pre-congress sign-up processes how many people are truly interested in this subject, and second, because only the niche audience who are interested in the subject matter will appreciate the amount of quality research, knowledge and expertise that must go into such an effort.

After a relaxing coffee break - for many the best part of the day for networking purposes - Klaus Meyer then introduced the two newest member countries to join WACS: India and Bolivia. While Bolivia was absent to receive their inauguration, India did a fantastic job by introducing the flavors of their multifaceted society of chefs to all delegates. Truly long-overdue additions, especially since India has so much to offer to the world of chefs.

Then came the hero-of-the-day, Dr. Bill Galagher, who gave his Honorary President cum WACS Ambassador report, a highlight of which was of course the extremely successful Tiger Brands World Cooks Tour for Hunger event that had the support of about 165 chefs in attendence. Gallagher called for all member countries that had participated to come on stage, and they all sang the theme tune of that charity effort. All who witnessed this felt at that moment the true bond that chefs have across the world, and did not hesitate to reward the participants with a standing ovation that few in our profession have ever experienced.

Thereafter came the time of reckoning. The seven would-be host countries for the 2008 congress made their bid to the delegates in what felt like an Academy Award presentation for 'best movie'! Using different tactics to sway the voters, representatives Norway, Scotland, Egypt, Dubai, Italy, Mexico and China fluffed their feathers and did their best to make their country as tantalising a destination as possible. Sri-Lanka, who had also been in the running, bowed out the day before. This was showmanship at its best. Each Country something special to showcase, which made this almost-2-hour extravaganza a rather interesting and eventful exercise. We shall not speculate at this point as to who left the most lasting impression, but will leave it up to the vote count on the last day of congress. Suffice to say, whoever wins will be needing to fulfill some really high expectations that were set at this presentation. One thing that struck us, however, among all the spectacular presentations, was that it seemed we were not paying attention to economical affordability. Perhaps its really time to ask: is this congress just getting a little too expensive for some to attend?

When the terrific adrenlin rush from the bidding showcase had subsided, we were then exposed to something of a time-bomb. Two representatives of the Nordic countries, Norway and Sweden, not only challenged the judging processes of WACS-run international culinary competitions, but also mentioned a particular event by name. This however was immediately taken on by WACS President Schaber and VKD President Metz. I will not go into specifics, but wish to state here that when it comes to competitions there will always be some sore issues, this is the nature of competition. We also want to highlight that for disputed matters, especially in the case of culinary competitions, there is within WACS a Culinary Competitions Committee which was formed to address such issues. We feel a WACS general assembly is not the time or place for members to express their gripes about any individual or specific competition. Although there may have been some truth to what was said, unless every effort has failed to address those issues at the appropriate place, it is rather improper to be washing dirty laundry in front of over 300 delegates. Sorry guys, but this was a shot in the foot.

The last official order of the day, was a treat by the Norwegian delegation as part of their bid to host the congress in 2008. They created many delightful snacks for all of us and in the slightly competitive promotional vein, this proved a great way to finish the day's proceedings. Had it not been for the beautifully dressed ladies in attendence, the food would have have stolen the limelight!

Stay tuned for more live updates coming soon!

Continental Director’s Report: Africa & the Middle East

Sensory Perception
"Sensory Perception: The wonderful world of smell and Taste"
A presentation on consumer perceptions of taste, smell and texture in food.

Spice Alive
"Spice Alive! Add Flavour To Food, Add Excitment to Life!"
A presentation on herbs and spices in cooking, condiments and ethnic cuisine.

WACS 2004 Bulletin Day 3