The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed various challenges, especially on the international trade sector. However, this didn’t stop the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) Agriculture Counsellor Office (ACO), which is based in the Embassy of Malaysia in The Hague, The Netherlands, to continue promoting the Malaysian agriculture sector using virtual and other creative platforms.
One of the efforts was through the ‘Malaysian Flavours in Europe’ or #MYFlavoursEurope cooking demonstration program, which virtually took place from 8-12 September 2021 covering 4 countries including Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), The Netherlands and Hungary. The program was conducted with the collaboration of Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC)lead by Jackie M, The Embassy of Malaysia in The Netherlands and Hungary, the High Commission of Malaysia in London, the Consulate General of Malaysia in Frankfurt, MATRADE, Tourism Malaysia and the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA).
Agriculture Counsellor, Muhamed Salim bin Mohd Ali said that the aim of this program was to increase the awareness of Malaysian food ingredients, culinary and tropical fruits in Europe. This program is totally unique in the sense that the virtual cooking demonstrations were led by renowned Chefs, food enthusiasts and influencers, who combined European dishes with a twist of Malaysian flavour. The dishes were prepared following the current cooking trends where the process is made easier with less time consumed. The program also gained a wide set of audience with overall views passing the 400,000 mark within the first few days.
According to Khalid bin Ibrahim, the Undersecretary of MAFI’s Business Development and Investment Division, efforts like #MYFlavoursEurope is in line with current marketing trends and addresses the need of consumers.
“We need to be brave enough and creative as a business is no longer as usual. Programs like #MYFlavoursEurope will allow greater visibility of Malaysian food products in the European market by attracting supermarkets and restaurants to try out the products and the food menus. Through the program, viewers were also given information on where to get Malaysian ingredients and tropical fruits in their respective countries.”
Among the special dishes that got much attention was the Rendang Wrap with Jackfruit Salsa concocted by Elias Morad and Celine Goes as pictured above.
The ACO in The Hague, The Netherlands is a regional office under MAFI, which covers 33 countries including the United Kingdom (UK), 27 European Union countries, 4 European Free Trade Association countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway & Switzerland) and Russia. Some of the roles and functions of the office are to expand market access, provide advice / facilitate on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) matters, assist on rules, regulations, import and export requirements for the agriculture sector, facilitate transfer of agriculture technology and explore investment opportunities.
