Florida was the next North American stop of 2024 for the Gelato Festival World Masters, the travelling competition in search of the world’s best gelato flavours. On 10 December, Carpigiani North America hosted the Carpigiani Challenge at the Miami (FL) headquarters of a local Carpigiani distributor.

How the day was set up

Sixteen top gelato chefs were scheduled to compete for a spot in the second North American Semifinal in 2025. Each prepared gelato in a specially equipped laboratory, and a panel of industry experts, local chefs and food journalists tasted and judged the results. The three best flavours would advance to the semifinal.

The championship behind it

The 2022-2025 Gelato Festival World Masters is organised by Gelato Festival with Carpigiani Gelato University and Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group, the world’s leading B2B show for artisan gelato, pastry, bakery and coffee. The tour’s mission is to spread artisan gelato culture around the world.

About the Gelato Festival World Masters

The championship began in Florence in 2010 and was inspired by the first documented gelato recipe, created by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti in 1559. It grew from a local contest into a tour across Italy, then Europe, and from 2017 into the United States. It went global with the Gelato Festival World Masters 2021 edition, which finished in December 2021 with a win for Adam Fazekas of Budapest and a record 3,500 gelato artisans judged by international juries.

What this means for gelato makers in New Zealand

Competitions like this show how far a well-balanced recipe, good technique and a confident story can take a gelato maker. If you are building your own flavour range, the right artisan gelato machines and a solid grounding from Carpigiani Gelato University are the place to start, and Majors Group can help with both in New Zealand. Our team can also talk you through Rubicone ingredients for your next signature flavour.

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