Baking Expo Set to Be Asia’s Largest: 60kg Chocolate Globe Steals the Show

▲ Taipei International Bakery Show showcases a dazzling array of breads, desserts, and cakes all in one place!(Photo/Chen Tzu-yin)

Reported by Chen Tzu-yin, Taipei

The 12th Taipei International Bakery & Equipment Show opened grandly on the 28th at the Nangang Exhibition Center, with this year’s theme being “Taiwan Baking, Spinning the World.” The highlight of the opening ceremony was a massive globe weighing 60 kilograms, entirely made of chocolate, centered on Taiwan to echo the exhibition’s theme. It was masterfully crafted by Mr. Li Guoyi, who won a silver medal in the pastry category of the IBA Cup World Baking Competition.

Mr. Chang Kuo-jung, Chairman of the Taipei Bakery Association, said that the biggest difference between this year's baking show and previous ones is the greater participation of international baking brands, raw material suppliers, and equipment vendors, which demonstrates Taiwan's baking industry has a certain level of influence in the global market. It also shows that Taiwan’s capabilities in this field have gone international—not only marketing to mainland China but also expanding across Asia and into Europe and the United States. In addition, Mr. Chang mentioned that in the future, besides continuing to promote Taiwan’s baking industry on the international stage and improving overall quality, efforts will also be made to address the issue of talent drain in Taiwan’s baking sector by nurturing young talents to fill the gap.

The Taipei International Bakery & Equipment Show has now reached its 12th edition. The number of exhibitor booths has grown from 80 to 1,000, bringing together over 300 brands for a joint exhibition—making it almost the largest baking show in Asia. Running for four days from the 28th to the 31st at the Nangang Exhibition Center, the event will not only feature the exciting “WCN World Chocolate Masters Competition,” where Taiwanese contestant Zheng Jixian competes against contestants from Macau and India, but also the “California Grapes & California Cheese Baking Challenge” on the 29th, where six contestants will put on a four-hour live baking showdown testing their creativity.

▲ This globe symbolizing “Taiwan leading the world” is made from 60 kilograms of chocolate. (Photo/Chen Tzu-yin)