The event, billed as the HAPA F&B & Culinary Awards Series, took the form of a Food, Drinks, Music & Chefs Festival at the Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur Midtown and drew roughly 300 guests from across the hospitality industry, including representatives from hotels and restaurants. Multiple awards were presented on stage over the course of the evening, followed by an after-party which served as a networking event for industry professionals over good food and entertainment.
The Kuala Lumpur gala was the second of three award nights that HAPA has scheduled for 2026 under a new format the organisation says is the first of its kind for a hospitality recognition program in Asia. Rather than a single annual ceremony, HAPA has divided its awards into three sector-specific galas: the HAPA Entrepreneur Awards Series, held on 8 February 2026 as a Chinese New Year “Lou Sang” awards night (read about it here: https://timchew.net/2026/03/23/hapa-awards-announces-a-bold-new-era-with-the-launch-of-the-annual-hapa-awards-for-excellence-2026-series/); the HAPA F&B & Culinary Awards Series, held 28 April; and the HAPA Hospitality & Tourism Awards Series, scheduled for June 26 as a black-tie event the organization is calling the Hospitality Ball. That third gala is expected to include the HAPA CEO & GM Awards for Excellence, recognising executives in the industry.
The Series 2 event on 28 April 2026 was supported by venue partner Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur Midtown, beverage partners Heineken Malaysia Bhd and Taps Group, awards partner Hocatsu (M) Sdn Bhd, and brand partners YY Circle Pte Ltd, Cabe (M) Sdn Bhd, and Dreamteam by Dreamskingdom. The festival portion of the evening was also backed by HAPA Group Sdn Bhd, Bespoke International Group, ENSO Izakaya and Bar, Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, Hyatt Centric City Centre Kuala Lumpur, Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, The Marini’s Group, The Olive Tree Group, 24 Karat Gold Bars Sdn Bhd, JHOL Kuala Lumpur, Luen Heng F&B Sdn Bhd and Milawa (M) Sdn Bhd.
HAPA has described itself for years as the “Oscars of Hospitality,” pointing to a judging process that includes mystery audits of nominated establishments and a panel of judges drawn from across the industry. The organisation said the shift to three separate galas, announced the day before the April event, is intended to give each sector — entrepreneurship, food and beverage, and hospitality and tourism — its own dedicated recognition night rather than sharing a single annual ceremony
The format change is meant to allow nominees in each category more individual attention during the presentations, and to let each gala be tailored to the character of its sector. The February gala, for instance, was tied to the Lunar New Year calendar and incorporated the traditional “lou sang” prosperity toss, while April’s F&B-focused event was structured around a festival format built around food, drink and live music rather than a formal dinner program. The June instalment is planned as a more traditional black-tie gala evening.
HAPA said the new format is intended to continue a recognition program that, over more than three decades, has been used to identify hotels, restaurants, entrepreneurs and individual hospitality workers across the region. The organisation said it plans to continue presenting awards annually going forward under the three-series structure rather than returning to a single combined ceremony.
HAPA’s decision to break its awards program into three sector-specific galas reflects a broader shift underway in industry recognition programs, which increasingly compete not just on prestige but on the quality of the experience they offer attendees and sponsors. Splitting a single annual ceremony into three distinct events allows an awards organisation to generate more media coverage across the calendar year, and give partner brands — such as the beverage and venue sponsors involved in the April gala — dedicated visibility tied to a specific audience segment rather than sharing attention with unrelated categories.
For nominees, the change could carry real practical benefits. In a single combined ceremony spanning dozens of categories, individual winners in niche categories often receive only a few minutes of recognition among a long program. A sector-specific gala, by contrast, gives entrepreneurs, chefs, restaurateurs or hoteliers a room, an audience and a narrative built specifically around their part of the industry, which can translate into more meaningful marketing value for winners who use the recognition in their own promotional material.
The move also illustrates how industry awards bodies more broadly are adapting to a hospitality sector that has diversified considerably in recent years, spanning everything from boutique culinary concepts to large hotel groups to independent tourism operators. A one-size-fits-all annual gala can struggle to represent that range meaningfully, and HAPA’s organisers have framed the three-series model as a response to that diversification.
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Photos courtesy of HAPA.
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