PHNOM PENH: The Top30 Bar Awards will take place in Cambodia for the first time in March 2023, to recognize award-worth-winning bars and to showcase local bartending talents.

According to a press release issued by Top30 Bars, the awards hope to help promote the top bars in Cambodia to both local and international markets, potentially opening the door to many new opportunities.

Cambodia's Top30 Bar Awards, presented by Heineken Cambodia, is an event that originates from Malaysia and was held for the first time in 2022 to celebrate Malaysia’s best bars and bartenders. Top30 Bars seeks to become a platform that will raise the standards and reputation of the bars and the food and beverage industry in Cambodia as well.

This is a big opportunity for Cambodian bars and their talented bartenders to gain well-deserved recognition and prominence in both local and international markets.

“We have done market research about Cambodia, and we think that this is a beautiful country with friendly people which surprisingly has many amazing bars and excellent bartenders, yet they are a bit underrated,” said Alvin Sinclair, the founder of the Top30 awards program. “Therefore, I believe that Cambodia’s Top30 Bar Awards will be an incredible program to celebrate the country's top alcoholic beverages, including beer and cocktail, as they really deserve the recognition.”

The winners of Cambodia's Top30 Bar Awards will greatly benefit from the program as it will continue to run many spectacular campaigns even after the awards are handed out. The awards will kick off in 2023 with an initial nomination of 150 bars throughout the main city in Cambodia, which will then be shortlisted to 100 bars only. The shortlisted bars will be further evaluated by a group of industry-selected jurors, narrowing down the selection to 50 finalists.

These finalists will continually be evaluated until the final deserving Top 30 bars in Cambodia are selected and presented with awards at the final gala award night.

The gala night will be held at Sofitel Hotel, Phnom Penh in March 2023, with an expected 400 participants, including bar owners, bartenders, influencers, and members of the media.

“This is not a ranking award program,” clarified Sinclair. “It is a program to evaluate the quality of the top bars and present them categorized awards with no ranking because we believe that all of them are wonderfully unique and excellent just the way they are.”

With every Top30 Awards held, there is always an accompanying CSR Campaign organized as well. Cambodia’s Top30 Bar Awards will be raising funds for the Indochina Starfish Foundation (ISF), a Cambodian charity with 16 years of experience using education, sports, and community development programs to change the lives of those most in need to build a brighter future. Proceeds from this event will be donated to ISF to support their cause.

The Cambodia Top30 Bar Awards 2023 would not be possible without the valuable contributions of the main sponsor, Heineken Cambodia, exclusive spirit partners, Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s, and other partners such as Seekers Gin and Giffard.

Since this is an annually held program, after Cambodia, the organizers plan to continue holding Top30 Bar Awards in other countries, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea.