Team Philippines (from left) Lenard Sabellano, chef Kris Edison Tan and Bryan Co awarded Highest Silver honors in 2026 FHA Bakery Challenge.The Food & Hospitality Asia (FHA) Culinary Challenge, one of the world’s most prestigious culinary competitions, takes place in Singapore biennially.
It brings together professional chefs, national teams and groups of individuals skilled at bread and pastry making from different countries to showcase their skills and compete for top honors in various aspects of combined and individual pastry arts. They are judged by an internationally-acclaimed board of judges based on the strict or rigorous standards set by the World Association of Chefs Societies (Worldchefs), and the best teams representing their countries always emerge as winners.
Chef Kris Edison Tan, the bright boy of boulangerie and viennoiserie of the Philippines, always shows up for his country. Backed by the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines (PAP) and major sponsors such as Russell Hobbs, Chef Kris never fails to assemble a team from his Masa Madre family of talented young chefs who turn out excellent pieces of breads and pastries, as well as savory products, for Masa Madre Bakehouse. And they bring home what you call “the bacon.” At the 2024 FHA Bakery Challenge, they won the Best Viennoiseries & Artisan Baguette Award and the Best Tasting Degustation Prize.
This year, Team Masa Madre, which is effectively Team Philippines, did it again. Led by Chef Kris himself with his talented staff, Lenard Sabellano and Bryan Co, the team trained long and hard for the competition and brought home the Highest Silver award for the country at the recently concluded 2026 FHA Bakery Challenge.
‘”For Masa Madre Bakehouse, assembling a participating team for FHA Singapore is more than simply joining a competition. It is an opportunity to represent our passion for craftsmanship, creativity and continuous growth within the culinary industry in an international stage. FHA Singapore has become an important platform for our team to challenge themselves, gain exposure and grow alongside some of the best culinary professionals and establishments across Asia,” explains Chef Kris.
He adds: “Participating in FHA Singapore also allows us to proudly showcase Filipino talent and creativity to a wider audience. Through various competition categories, we aim to highlight the dedication, quality and craftsmanship that Masa Madre brings to the industry while representing the growing potential of Filipino culinary professionals in the global scene.”
The lean but mean Philippine Team trained for about five months. It meant intensive training almost every day, and they had competition runs that felt like they were in the actual competition. They also invited esteemed professionals in the field to judge the breads to get inputs from outside Masa Madre to allow them time and space to make improvements if needed. Thus, come competition days, it was easy for them to put together their display — Sierra Madre Bread Showpiece, croissants, Candied Dayap Pili Frangipane (for their Pain au Chocolat), Turon Cheesecake with Langka Gelee (for the Danish pastry), Kaldereta Bun (for the Savory Asian Sweet Bun), Bibingka, Smoked Coconut Muffin (for the sweet muffin), Crab Muffin (for the savory muffin) and baguettes.
Chef Kris admits that what made the win possible, apart from the efforts of the team, was the invaluable support given to them by their sponsors, mentioning PAP and Russell Hobbs as two major sponsors that made things work for the team.
“Competing locally and internationally requires a tremendous amount of preparation, resources and commitment. Organizations such as PAP have helped support our journey financially to make these opportunities possible and allow us to focus on training, improving our craft and representing the Philippines with confidence,” says Chef Kris.
He adds: “We are also very thankful to Russell Hobbs for their continued encouragement and moral support, which have played a huge role in motivating our team. Beyond their belief in us, they even flew in a photographer to document our entire competition journey and that made us feel genuinely supported and valued as a team.”