Gelato World Cup 2020: The 12 Participating Nations Revealed

On 17 July 2019, with 180 days to go until the ninth Coppa del Mondo della Gelateria (Gelato World Cup), the national teams for the 2020 edition were announced. They span Asia to Latin America, with a strong European core. The biennial event, run by SIGEP – Italian Exhibition Group and Gelato&Cultura, compares the knowledge, creativity and innovation of gelato chefs, pastry chefs, ice carvers and executive chefs chosen as the best experts on five continents.

The 12 teams

The teams competed on 19 to 21 January 2020 in the South Hall at IEG Rimini Expo Centre in Italy, presenting gelato cakes, frozen desserts and ice sculptures. The participating countries were Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Argentina, Colombia and Hungary. After years of alternating participation, France and Italy finally competed on the same stage.

This was the first edition in which every team was selected by the Committee of the Coppa del Mondo della Gelateria through competitions it supervised around the world. The 16-month selection process started with Feria Internacional del Helado in Mexico City (February 2018), followed by the Asian Gelato Cup at FHA in Singapore (April 2018), the Longarone Eis Challenge (December 2018) and Sigep Gelato d’Oro (January 2019). Warsaw (Expo Sweet) and Madrid (Intersicop) followed in February 2019, and the latest rounds were held at Valrhona’s headquarters in Tain l’Hermitage, at Fithep in Buenos Aires and in Budapest.

What to expect

Event president Giancarlo Timballo explained that each team has a gelato chef, a pastry chef, an executive chef and an ice carver, all led by a captain. The event brings together:

• 60 competitors, 3 race commissioners, 14 technical judges, 7 international media jurors and 3 artistic jurors.
• 12 masters of Club Italia assisting the teams.
• 8 race tests over 3 days: gelato and sorbet, glass single portion, mystery box, gelato cake, haute cuisine entree, ice and brittle sculptures and the new trend of gelato snacks, followed by a final Grand Buffet presenting all the creations.

Carpigiani was a Golden Sponsor of the 2020 competition, and the official hashtag was #CMG2020.

What this means for gelato makers in Australia

The Gelato World Cup is where the trade’s newest ideas, from gelato cakes to savoury gelato, first appear. Majors Group is the official Carpigiani distributor here, and you can explore Carpigiani gelato machines or build your skills through Carpigiani Gelato University.

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