The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre’s extensive culinary repertoire made it the perfect venue for the recent International Congress of Dietetics 2012.
Held in September, the three-day ICD event attracted close to 2000 delegates from around the globe, with more than 400 of them nominating specific dietary needs.
More than 100 delegates were vegetarian, while many others required a gluten free menu and a number were lactose intolerant. Many more had specific nut, seafood and oil allergies, while a significant number required Halal or Kosher meals.
Despite the diverse range of dietary requirements, the Centre was able to cater for the event from its extensive food compendium of more than 500 individual dishes, with delegates enjoying three lunches and a cocktail party at the venue during the course of the Congress.
The Centre’s Director of Food and Beverage Simon Lomas said the only dish created specifically for the event was a gluten free pie for the welcome drinks event.
“Everything else was drawn from our existing menu, which was very rewarding. It was a great demonstration of how creative and flexible our compendium is,” Mr Lomas said.
Roslyn McLeod, Managing Director with event organiser arinex, said the event was very successful.
“It was fantastic to see the Centre’s F&B team deliver all the dietary requirements – no mean feat for a dieticians’ conference,” Ms McLeod said
Held in Australia for the first time in 35 years, the 2012 Congress was attended by the world’s leading dieticians, nutritionists and nutrition science researchers, with local and international experts presenting the latest research in nutrition.
