Gelato World Tour North America Crowns Its Award Winners

The Gelato World Tour crowned the North American winners this afternoon at Republic Park in Austin, Texas.  Of the sixteen competitors who were finalists in the Gelato World Tour, only three will advance to the World Champion Finals in Rimini, Italy on September 5th – 7th 2014.  The winners were chosen by a panel of expert judges who work as chefs, educators and food journalists from around the country.  But of equal weight were the people’s choices (50% Professional Jury/50% visitors who voted).  Thousands of visitors joined our competition, tasted the flavors and selected their favorite.  When those scores were combined the results were:

• First Place Overall – Salted Pecan with Montmorency Tart Cherries & Tahitian Vanilla by James Coleridge and Salvatore Boccarossa of Bella Gelateria, Vancouver, Canada
• Second Place Overall – Profumi di Sicilia by Stefano Versace & Francisco Blanco of Versace Gelateria Italiana & Gourmet, Doral, FL.
• Third Place Overall – Nuts by Matthew Lee of TEO, Austin, TX

A Peers award, voted on by competing artisans, was given to the flavor Goat Cheese Cashew Caramel by Jessica Oloroso of Black Dog Gelato, Chicago, IL.  Two technical awards were given by the professional jury, one to Raspberry Beet by Baron W. Von Gottsacker of Bent Spoon Gelato, Sheboygan, WI, and another to La Grande Bellezza – The Great Beauty (Avocado Basil) by Silvia Bertolazzi of Carpe Diem! Gelato-Expresso Bar, Lafayette, LA

Cookies Best Taster, presented by MEC3 was awarded to Carmen Ricciardi, for his ability to guess the most number of ingredients in a sample after just one taste.

The Tonda Challenge, presented by IFI was awarded to Feroze Chida of Sweetcup Gelato, Houston, TX (60+60) for the ability to produce the perfect cup of gelato for a customer.  The objective was to scoop two cups of 60 grams each: the first with a single flavor of gelato, the second with two different flavors of gelato.

The event, attended by thousands of visitors and gelato enthusiasts, was organized by Carpigiani Gelato University, the most prestigious Gelato School in the world, which has thirteen schools on five continents and produces the world’s premier expo in artisan food, Sigep-Rimini Fiera. Main partners and leading manufacturers of showcases and ingredients were IFI and MEC3. The Gelato World Tour was proud to collaborate with local partners at the Sustainable Food Center (that will receive proceeds from the event’s sampling) and the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas.

MyGelato App and Carpigiani will award the 1st place winner of Gelato World Tour North America a 3-month social media marketing campaign through the innovative app dedicated to the world of gelato, MyGelato. On top of this, MyGelato and Carpigiani will give the shops’ clients 500 free gelato coupons to be used only in the winner’s gelato shop, redeemable through the MyGelato app, the first that gives gelatos for free. For more information please visit www.gelatoworldtour.com.