Belgium was the second European stop of the 2024 Gelato Festival World Masters tour, held on 27 February at the Carpigiani Benelux headquarters in Zandhoven.

The first Carpigiani Challenge of the year

Twenty-five gelato artisans from Flanders competed with their best flavour for a place in the European Finals. The 2022-2025 championship is organised by Gelato Festival with Carpigiani Gelato University, the renowned school for gelato entrepreneurs, and Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group, the leading B2B show for artisan gelato, pastry, bakery and coffee.

Chefs prepared their gelato in the laboratory supplied by the organisers, then industry experts, local chefs and food journalists tasted and evaluated each entry. The three top flavours went on as Benelux finalists to the European Finals of Gelato Festival World Masters, to be held in the following years.

About the championship

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

What this means for gelato makers in New Zealand

You can learn the skills behind award-winning gelato without leaving home. Majors Group offers Carpigiani Gelato University training in New Zealand, plus Carpigiani gelato machines to put it into practice.

Source: Carpigiani news. Rewritten for New Zealand by Majors Group.