Archipelago International, Southeast Asia’s largest hotel management company, recently held the ninth edition of its renowned “Archipelago Black Box Battle” on August 8, 2024, at Aston Banyuwangi in East Java. The event saw fierce competition among 15 F&B Leaders and 16 Executive Chefs from various Archipelago International properties across East Java, all vying for the prestigious Charles Brookfield Trophy for first place and the John Flood Trophy for second place.

The competition tested the participants’ creativity and culinary skills as they were tasked with creating dishes and beverages using secret ingredients from the “black box.” The Executive Chefs had to work with ingredients such as fish, shrimp, moringa leaves, and tamarind, while the F&B Leaders were given the choice of two out of three ingredients: lychee, sapodilla, and coconut milk. The chefs were given 90 minutes to prepare their dishes, while the F&B Leaders had just 30 minutes to craft a unique beverage.

“This year’s Black Box Battle provided an excellent platform for our Executive Chefs and F&B Leaders in East Java to sharpen their creativity and skills in managing food and beverages,” said Winston Hanes, Vice President of Operations at Archipelago International. “It also served as an opportunity to promote local and regional cuisine.”

The panel of judges for the competition included top executives from Archipelago International: Winston Hanes, Vice President of Operations; Denny Frederick, Corporate Executive Chef; Denny Wasana, Corporate F&B Manager; and Sari Kusumaningrum, Senior Director of Corporate Communications and PR.

The winners of the Archipelago Black Box Battle received trophies, certificates, cash prizes, and gifts from the event’s sponsors.

Winners of the Food Battle:

• First Place: Chef Topan - Aston Inn Batu (Charles Brookfield Trophy)
• Second Place: Chef Subadri - Aston Madiun (John Flood Trophy)
• Third Place: Chef Susanto - The Alana Surabaya (Favorite Trophy)

Winners of the Beverage Battle:

• First Place: Diah Novita - favehotel Malang (Charles Brookfield Trophy)
• Second Place: Agus Nurjana - Quest Darmo Surabaya (John Flood Trophy)
• Third Place: Ari Purwantoko - favehotel Kediri (Favorite Trophy)

“This competition was quite intense as the participants had to come up with ideas quickly to prepare dishes using the secret ingredients. I hope our chefs will continue to participate in this competition in the future to further enhance their creativity in crafting authentic dishes at their respective hotels,” said Chef Topan from Aston Inn Batu, who secured first place in the Food Battle.

Diah Novita from favehotel Malang, the first-place winner in the Beverage Battle, also expressed her gratitude and hope for the future of the Archipelago Black Box Battle. “I drew inspiration from my experience working in hotels as an F&B Leader, which helped me create a beverage using unique ingredients like lychee, sapodilla, and coconut milk. Moving forward, I hope that F&B Leaders under Archipelago International will continue to participate in this prestigious competition.”

For more information, visit www.archipelagointernational.com and follow @archipelagointernational and @astonbanyuwangi on Instagram.