SYB celebrates the Fête du Pain in Shanghai

This year, on May 16th, Business France (French trade commission in Shanghai), hosted the 8th edition of the fête du pain in collaboration with Lesaffre at the Fairmont Peace Hotel. This annual festivity, originating from France, brings together bakers and bakery lovers to commemorate the Patron saint of bakery, Saint Honoré, and cherish their passion for bakery.

At the start the evening, Lesaffre and Business France jointly organised a baking contest. The competition opposed Shanghai-based bakeries in baking French bread and pastries, such as baguette and Saint Honoré. Two of the four judges for this contest were Shanghai Young Bakers graduates: our bakery professor, Zhang Shuai, and social enterprise technical manager, Xiao Jinjin. It was an honor for them to be selected as judges for this event as it proved the quality of the expertise and asserted the benefits of Shanghai Young Bakers’ social impact. The fact that Shanghai Young Bakers graduates were recognized as esteemed professional bakers was a direct reflection of the program’s ability to train students to become important players in the baking industry.

After the competition ended, guests gathered around multiple food stalls set up across the room. For this occasion, Business France ordered bread and pastries from Shanghai Young Bakers to complement the variety of products offered by the Peace Hoteland sponsors. We were pleased to contribute to the event’s exquisite buffet, especially given that all the proceeds from the order contribute to our program. During the evening, the hosts projected a video of Zhang Shuai making a Lesaffre baguette at our baking center, which detailed its baking process. It was heart-warming to watch a former Shanghai Young Bakers student, and current professor, perform this demonstration on a big screen in front of a professional audience.

The hosts also organized a raffle during the event, for which Shanghai Young Bakers discerned two prizes. The first was a Baker’s basket, and the second was a coupon awarding a spot in one of our public baking classes. We were thrilled to give out these prizes to the lucky winners of the tombola. We hope they will enjoy our baked goods and opportunity to learn about baking and our program at our baking center.

Taking part in this event was a wonderful experience for Shanghai Young Bakers. Watching our graduates perform in such a reputable setting was both moving and gratifying. On behalf of Shanghai Young Bakers, I would like to thank Hélène Hovasse’s team at Business France for their support and shedding light on Shanghai Young Bakers throughout this year’s fête du pain festivity.

Emma Louise Blondes

Partnerships Manager