Story by K.H. Ong
Coffee and dessert lovers, mark this date – Aug 3 to 5 – on your calendar.
For the fifth year, the Penang Coffee and Desserts Festival (PCDF) will be held at the atrium of Gurney Paragon Mall on those dates.
The festival is organised by TLM Event and co-organised by Gurney Paragon Mall with the endorsement of the state government.
In conjunction with the festival, a signature Food Truck Gathering Party will be also held along Jalan Kelawei from 5pm to 10pm during the three-day festival.
Other highlights include Latte Art Throwdown (Aug 4, 10am-6pm), live music performances, paint and sip, coffee caricature, bean to cup, workshops and demonstrations by experts.
State Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture and Arts Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin, who was at Gurney Paragon Mall to promote the festival today, said PCDF is designed distinctively to celebrate the burgeoning of specialty coffee and desserts scene in Penang.
“Coffee and desserts exhibitors are more than ready to showcase their talent, innovative specialty blends and marvelous dessert-making skills,” Yeoh said in his speech.
“We will be able to explore and generate more ideas to improve the coffee and desserts scene in Penang. More importantly, we can express our creative uniqueness and let Penang be known to the world.
“Penang is widely credited as the “Culinary Capital of Malaysia” as there are endless choices of mouth-watering dishes originating from Penang.”
Yeoh expressed hope that the festival would continue to shine for the coming years and consistently play a part to boost Penang’s tourism.
He said in recent years, the service sector, including tourism, contributes nearly 50% of the state’s GDP.
According to figures released by Penang Global Tourism (PGT) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, Yeoh said passenger traffic for international and domestic passengers had increased from 6.3 million in 2015 to 6.7 million in 2016.
Also present were Hunza Group executive directors Khor Tze Ming and Lily Tan, TLM Event executive director Alex Quah and TLM Event managing director Jack Wong.
Khor, whose group of companies owned Gurney Paragon Mall, said 30% of the mall’s shoppers are foreigners and the mall has become a new shopping destination for coffee and desserts.
“The festival has definitely elevated Penang into the international coffee and desserts scene,” Khor said.
“The festival has proven to be instrumental to the development of the industry, providing exposure to the entrepreneurs to promote their products, launch new concepts and seek new business channels.
“For three days from Aug 3 to 5, the festival promises to be an event with an aromatic difference.
“We provide a platform to grow young and talented baristas and entrepreneurs in various competitions of international standard. It also raises our standards and competitiveness.”
During the three-day festival, visitors are entitled to two RM5 discount rides by the official ride partner GRAB Malaysia, applicable for trip to and from Gurney Paragon Mall.
To enjoy the discount, visitors are required to key in ‘GRABTOPCDF’ promo code using the GRAB mobile apps.
