Melbourne milks top place at food awards

AUSTRALASIA – An international conference centre has scooped a raft of prestigious awards. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) picked up six medals at the 2015 Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards (RMFFA), including three gold for their house-made dairy products. MCEC received medals for all products entered, which resulted in three gold and three silver medals. The awards are organised annually by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria and this year received 1,289 entries from across Australia, ranging from larger commercial brands to smaller farmers and producers. MCEC’s executive chef Tony Panetta said: “We are absolutely thrilled with this year’s results and I take my hat off to our hard working and talented chefs on this achievement. “We pride ourselves on producing premium house-made products and these results are a great representation of what we deliver at MCEC on a daily basis. “It’s all about attention to detail, regardless of event size and scale, and we have the pleasure of working with some of Victoria’s finest produce to create our products in-house.” MCEC chief executive Peter King said: “It’s unique for a business events venue to take out awards such as these and we are proud to be consistently awarded on an annual basis. “Our philosophy ‘made fresh, in house, by hand’ is at the heart of everything we do. Food is what brings people together at an event, so the kitchen team work hard to make sure our visitors connect over the absolute best.”