Events company Sphere Exhibits, a subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings, has won an award in Malaysia and set various records for its festivals here this year.

Sphere Exhibits Malaysia organised the Malaysian International Food and Beverage Trade Fair (MIFB), which was awarded the title of "Malaysia's largest food and beverage trade fair" by the Malaysia Book of Records last week, Sphere Exhibits said yesterday.

The trade fair - the country's prime food and beverage (F&B) event - just celebrated its 20th anniversary. The fair was also recognised for its two decades of innovation and constant growth, as well as its role in coming up with groundbreaking solutions to boost the industry alongside global partners.

This year, the event introduced a programme called the F&B Start-Up @ MIFB 2019, to connect start-up exhibitors with investors to promote innovative service solutions in the food and beverage sector.

Two exhibitions in Singapore over the weekend also set records. Beerfest Asia attracted its biggest crowd yet of 37,800 visitors over four days from June 27 to 30. There were 79 exhibitors with 600 brands of beer on offer, including 150 new ones.

The festival also held new programmes like Ignition, a display of music, lasers, lighting and video mapping. There were different themed nights as well.

And the fifth edition of the Yummy Food Expo held over the same period involved 171 exhibitors, the biggest number yet.

Sphere Exhibits chairman Chua Wee Phong said: "Our efforts to focus on content and innovation over the past year bore fruit, based on the results of last week's shows. It has brought us more exhibitors and recognition in Malaysia and a lot more visitors in Singapore.

"For Beerfest, we have attracted many partnership inquires from brewers of different countries. We will continue to refresh and revamp our events, such as our Comex show, which will include the launch of Esports Festival Asia in September."