Daniel Chia has been involved in the Food & Beverage world since 1987, and now works to provide solutions to F&B businesses in Singapore.

His initial training was at Singapore’s premier Hotel School, SHATEC, where he obtained an NTC-2 Certificate in Food & Beverage Service, followed by a Higher Diploma in Hotel Management.

In the early years of his career, he focused his attention on learning as much as possible about hotel food & beverage operations, and spent time working in various capacities, including fine dining establishments like the now defunct Nutmegs at the Hyatt Regency Singapore. In 1995, Daniel won the SAWEA Wine Education Awards while working at Ristorante Bologna at Marina Mandarin Singapore and was appointed the Sommelier of the restaurant.

Daniel has a wealth of experience in the wines & spirits world, with many years of industry experience, covering stints in sales and marketing within the wines and spirits trade, as well as at 5-star hotels, including the Grand Hyatt Singapore, Raffles Hotel and The Regent Singapore, where he managed restaurants, bars and the hotels’ Wine & Beverage programmes, and has managed the opening of two independent restaurants, one in Singapore, and the other in Shanghai, China.

While working in the trade and in hospitality, he found time to be the Principal Lecturer for the SHATEC Australian Wine Education Awards (SAWEA) Program for 6 years from 1997 to 2002. 

Since 2001, Daniel has been (and still continues) contributing to the local wine scene’s understanding of wine communication. As a panelist in local magazines, he was one of the pioneers to use local flavour descriptors to describe the sensory qualities of wine. He also co-developed the ‘Asian Wine Lexicon’ to help new wine consumers in Asia describe wines in their own context.

Daniel was a full-time Lecturer, then later, Senior Lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic from 2005 to 2019, and supported the Hospitality & Tourism Management and the Culinary & Catering Management teams, teaching various subjects covering the areas of F&B Management, Wine & Beverage, F&B Service, Culinary Science, Product Knowledge, Food Hygiene and Gastronomy.

In addition, he also conducted wines and spirits training for Temasek Polytechnic’s Professional Development Centre, and certification programs for l’Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux in Singapore.

In 2006 and 2007, he taught 3 cohorts of undergraduates as Adjunct Professor – Food & Beverage Operations Fundamentals, for the Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration program at the Singapore Campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

In 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2020, he was also Adjunct Professor – Wine Studies, for the the Bachelor of Professional Studies in Culinary Arts Management program and the Bachelor of Business Administration in Food Business Management, at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Singapore.

Daniel was the Founding President of Slow Food (Singapore), a volunteer-run, non-profit, non-governmental organisation working on food issues in Singapore, with an emphasis on preserving and promoting Singapore’ food cultural heritage, from 2013 to 2018, and held the honorary position of Founding President after completing his 5 year term.

During his term, Daniel proposed and launched Slow Food (Singapore)’s Heritage Hero Awards program in 2014, recognising Heritage Bakeries & Confectioneries. Two years later, in 2016, a category for Heritage Restaurants was also launched. He also created Kueh Appreciation Day, the most important event on Slow Food (Singapore)’s calendar, which has been a key Partner Event at Singapore Tourism Board’s Singapore Food Festival, in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. 

Daniel is an alumnus of SHATEC, and has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Hospitality Studies from RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, and a Master’s Degree in Food Culture and Communications with a specialization in Human Ecology and Sustainability from the Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche, Pollenzo, Italy.

He is also one of only seven specialised Food Area Tourist Guides, licensed by the Singapore Tourism Board.