Gelato Festival World Masters at Sirha Budapest, 2024

Budapest was the third European stop of the 2024 Gelato Festival World Masters season, held on 5 March at the Sirha Budapest trade show, in Gelato Square, Pavilion G.

How the day worked

Sixteen gelato artisans competed for a place in the 2025 national finals. Gelato Festival organised the challenge with Carpigiani’s official distributor in Hungary and Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group. Chefs made their gelato in a kitchen supplied by the organisers while industry experts, local chefs and food journalists tasted and judged. The top three flavours went through to the Hungarian Finals in 2025.

Special guests on the programme

At 11am the reigning World Champion, Ádám Fazekas of Fazekas Cukrászda in Budapest, ran a demonstration of the flavour that won him the 2021 World Final: “Frutta di Pistacchio”, a creamy salted pistachio gelato with a Tonka bean spiced raspberry coulis and a pistachio crunch.

At 1pm, six earlier national finalists presented their winning flavours:

• 2022, first place: Norbert Tóth of Tóth cukrászda, Dunaföldvár, with “Karibi kávé miso karamellel” (Caribbean coffee gelato with miso caramel and rum)
• 2022, second place: Dávid Wilheim of DaCrema Fagyizó, Nagykanizsa, with “Il Re del Piemonte” (Piedmont hazelnut gelato with blackberry sauce, crunchy milk chocolate and caramelised hazelnuts)
• 2022, third place: János Somodi of Florida Fagyizó, Balatonmáriafürdő, with “Torta della nonna”
• 2023, first place: István Felsődiósi of Lufi fagyizó, Győr, with “Go(a)t milk?” (goat cheese gelato variegated with figs and pistachios)
• 2023, second place: Adam Pataki of Pataki, Erd, with “Frutta di cafè” (coffee and white chocolate gelato with lemon confit and salted caramel)
• 2023, third place: László Nagy of Marcipán Cukrászda, Dunaföldvár, with “Mandulás Fehércsoki” (white chocolate and almond gelato)

Visitors, press and other gelato and pastry professionals could taste all six flavours on the day.

About the championship

The 2022-25 edition took Gelato Festival World Masters into its thirteenth year. It began in Florence in 2010 as the local “Gelato Festival”, inspired by Bernardo Buontalenti’s first gelato recipe of 1559, then spread across Italy, Europe and, from 2017, the United States. The 2017-2021 world championship involved over 3,500 gelato makers and was won by Adam Fazekas of Budapest.

What this means for gelato makers in Australia

Signature flavours begin with solid tools and skills. Majors Group supplies Carpigiani gelato machines and can help you learn through Carpigiani Gelato University in Australia.

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