Coppa del Mondo della Gelateria 2020: Italy, Japan, Argentina

Italy won the gold medal at the 9th Coppa del Mondo della Gelateria (Gelato World Cup), which finished on 21 January 2020 in the arena of the South Hall at Rimini Expo Centre, during Sigep, the 41st International Trade Show of Artisan Gelato, Pastry, Bakery and the Coffee World. Three continents and three different cultures shared the podium.

The medal winners

• Gold, Italy: led by Giuseppe Tonon with Marco Martinelli, Eugenio Morrone, Massimo Carnio and Ciro Chiummo. Their theme was “Secrets of the forest”.
• Silver, Japan: led by Kanjiro Mochizuki with Naoki Matsuo, Kenichi Matsunaga, Kengo Akabame and Hiromi Nishikawa. Their theme was “The flower of music”.
• Bronze, Argentina: led by Maximiliano Cesar Maccarrone with Diego Agustin Irato, Pablo Nicolas Renes, Matias Dragun and Ruben Darre. Their theme was “Pirates of Car-ibbean”.

Special awards

• Best Ice Sculpture: Japan (ice sculptor Kengo Akabame)
• Best Gelato Cake: Italy, chosen by the international press jury
• Most Innovative Mystery Box Flavour: Argentina, chosen by the technical jury for the gelato or sorbet made in the Mystery Box test
• Outstanding Final Grand Buffet: Italy, chosen by the artistic jury for aesthetics and creative vision
• Carlo Pozzi Award: Japan, the order and cleanliness award named after Gelato Master Carlo Pozzi, given by the competition commissioners to the team with the best-kept workstation

How the competition worked

The event was organised by Sigep, Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), and Gelato & Cultura, and ran from 19 to 21 January 2020. Eleonora Cozzella and Spiridione Ripaldi hosted. Eleven nations took part, each represented by a team leader: Argentina (Maximiliano Cesar Maccarrone), Colombia (Jonathan Nieto Hincapie), France (Stephane Augé), Germany (Günter Single), Japan (Kanjiro Mochizuki), Italy (Giuseppe Tonon), Malaysia (Au Yong Yung Yee), Mexico (Gustavo Barbabosa), Poland (Alexandra Sowa-Trzebinska), Singapore (Ng Chee Leong) and Spain (Lluís Ribas Guardià).

Each team included a gelato chef, a pastry chef, a chef de cuisine and an ice sculptor. They faced eight tests over three days: a glass single portion, a mystery box, a gelato cake, a haute cuisine entrée, ice and brittle sculptures, the new trend of gelato snacks, and the final Grand Buffet showing all their creations. The twelve technical judges were the team leaders, with Pier Paolo Magni as president of the jury, and Hungary’s Renata Somogyi also voted after her team withdrew. Technical commissioners Sergio Colalucci, Sergio Dondoli and Gaetano Mignano oversaw the floor. Ten international journalists formed the press jury for the gelato cake award, and Lorena Gava, Stephan Didier and Adolfo Romero formed the artistic jury for the Grand Buffet. Students of the Istituto Alberghiero Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta in Rimini supported the teams.

Carpigiani was named official supplier of gelato machines for the qualifying rounds, using Maestro HE and Turbomix. The 10th edition is planned for 2022, with the first international selection at the Asian Gelato Cup in Singapore on 3 and 4 March 2020. Guidelines are on the official Coppa del Mondo della Gelateria site.

What this means for gelato makers in Australia

Competition kitchens run on serious equipment, and the same Carpigiani technology is available to gelato makers in Australia. Explore Carpigiani batch freezers, or build your skills with Carpigiani Gelato University. Our gelato shop guide is a good place to start for newcomers.

Source: Carpigiani news. Rewritten for Australia by Majors Group.