Winners of the Gelato America Cup 2025

I concorrenti della squadra dell'Argentina mentre aspettano il verdetto della giuria alla Gelato America Cup del 2025

PRESS RELEASE

Winners of the Gelato America Cup 2025

The Gelato America Cup, held from June 9 to 12, 2025, in Córdoba, Argentina, as part of FITHEP Centro Expoalimentaria, has officially selected the four winning teams that will represent the Americas at the Gelato World Cup 2026—the world’s top artisanal gelato competition—taking place in Rimini, Italy, from January 16 to 20, 2026, during Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group.

1st Place: Argentina

2nd Place: Mexico

3rd Place: Peru

4th Place: Ecuador

These four teams have secured their spot in the Gelato World Cup 2026, joining the eight nations already qualified through previous continental selections.

Special Mentions awarded during the competition:

Innovation & Creativity: Venezuela
Cleanliness & Hygiene: United States
Teamwork: Argentina
Best Gelato – Awarded by Sergio Dondoli: Ecuador
Best Gelato – Press Award:
1st Argentina

2nd Venezuela

The 12 finalist nations for the Gelato World Cup 2026:

Italy
France
Germany
Belgium
Japan
Singapore
South Korea
China
Argentina
Mexico
Peru
Ecuador

The Gelato World Cup, organized by Gelato e Cultura in collaboration with Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group, will celebrate its 11th edition in 2026. The event brings together the world’s top gelato artisans in a high-level competition blending technical mastery, creativity, and passion for artisanal gelato.

From June 9–12, 2025, the Gelato America Cup will take place in Córdoba, Argentina – an official qualifying event for the Gelato World Cup 2026

Una delle partecipanti alla XI edizione mostra l'elaborato creato della propria squadra. Si tratta di una torta decorata a tema bosco con uno scoiattolo in cima

PRESS RELEASE

From June 9–12, 2025, the Gelato America Cup will take place in Córdoba, Argentina – an official qualifying event for the Gelato World Cup 2026

From June 9 to 12, 2025, the city of Córdoba, Argentina, will host the Gelato America Cup, one of the official continental selection events for the Gelato World Cup, the prestigious global final of artisanal gelato taking place in Rimini, Italy, from January 16 to 20, 2026, during SIGEP – Italian Exhibition Group.

This event, also known as the Copa América del Helado Artesanal, is organized by AFADHYA (Asociación Fabricantes Artesanales de Helados y Afines) and the Federation of Pastry, Quick Service, Confectionery, Gelato, Pizza and Alfajor Workers, in collaboration with FITHEP Centro Expoalimentaria 2025, a leading South American trade fair for foodservice and processing technologies.

Eight national teams will compete: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, the United States, and Venezuela. The top four teams will qualify for the final round of the Gelato World Cup 2026, where they will join teams already selected from Europe and Asia.

Presiding over the jury will be Sergio Dondoli, Master Gelato Maker and Official Commissioner of the Gelato World Cup. The jury will include the team captains and two technical commissioners. Evaluation criteria will include mise en place, hygiene, technique, teamwork, organoleptic quality, creativity, and innovation.

Competition challenges include:

Glass cup single-serve dessert
Mystery Box – Fruit
Savory gelato finger food
Mystery Box – Cream
Chocolate gelato petit fours
Gelato cake

The event will culminate with a final buffet presentation, showcasing each team’s creations in a scenographic and artistic display based on a chosen theme.

The Gelato World Cup, organized by Gelato & Cultura in partnership with SIGEP – Italian Exhibition Group, is the world’s most prestigious competition for artisanal gelato, celebrating excellence, tradition, and innovation in gelato craftsmanship across the globe.

Córdoba, Argentina, fithep

June 9–12, 2025

Sigep China Cup 2025: The Chinese Semifinal for the 2026 Gelato World Cup Is Coming

Si vede una pasticcera intenta ad ultimare una lavorazione nell'ultima gara della Gelato World Cup

PRESS RELEASE

Sigep China Cup 2025: The Chinese Semifinal for the 2026 Gelato World Cup Is Coming

The international selection process for the 2026 Gelato World Cup, now in its 11th edition, is underway. The Grand Final will take place from January 16 to 20, 2026 at Sigep – Italian Exhibition Group, Rimini. Following the Gelato Asia Cup in Singapore – which saw Japan, Singapore, and South Korea qualify – and the Gelato Europe Cup in Rimini – which selected Germany, France, Italy, and Belgium – the next stop will be the Gelato China Cup, held during Sigep China, from April 24 to 26, 2025.

This key stage will determine the fourth Asian team to represent China at the 2026 World Final. After the great success of the inaugural Chinese selection in 2023, the 2nd edition of the Gelato World Cup – China Selection promises to deliver even more talent, creativity, and innovation.

Representing the organizing committee will be President Sergio Colalucci and Commissioner Sergio Dondoli.

Participants – among the country’s top gelato artisans – will compete in high-level technical and artistic challenges to earn a spot in the World Final.

As preparations continue for the global finals this coming January, the 11th edition will feature teams made up of four key roles: a Team Manager, a gelato artisan, a pastry chef, and a chef – combining culinary tradition and innovation in a unique synergy.

The event is organized by Gelato & Cultura in partnership with Sigep of IEG Exhibition Group, long-standing promoters of a competition that has become a global benchmark in the artisanal gelato sector.

“The Gelato World Cup is much more than a competition: it’s an international stage where talent, technique, and creativity come together to celebrate the excellence of artisanal gelato,” says Sergio Colalucci, President of the Gelato World Cup. “Our goal is to highlight the professionalism of the teams and promote a forward-thinking culture that bridges the artisanal identity of Italian gelato with emerging global trends. We want to inspire a new generation of professionals and continue spreading the art of gelato around the world.”

The Gelato World Cup is a forward-looking challenge that combines technical excellence, innovation, and passion, celebrating artisanal gelato as a true global art form. With the final semifinal stages now taking place, after China and the Americas, 12 teams will compete for the world title this coming January.

For updates, photos, and more details: visit the gallery at www.gelatoworldcup.com

Press contact:

Gelato World Cup –

press@gelatoworldcup.com

GELATO EUROPE CUP – Day 1

Gelato Europe Cup, podio premio speciale stampa Gelato del Recupero, Italia, Francia Belgio

Tomorrow the finalists

Gelato Arena – Pad. A7

Rimini – Gelato Europe Cup concluded the first day of competition, tomorrow will be selected the 4 teams that will qualify for the world final in January 2026.

Organised By SIGEP World and Gelato e Cultura srl, the competition selects the best European gelato and pastry teams to participate in the 11th Gelato World Cup, the world’s most important international team competition dedicated to the sector, scheduled to take place at SIGEP 2026.

The championship includes 6 competition rounds: ‘Upcycled gelato’ tub Gelato cake Single portion in Glass Cup Cream Mystery box Fruit Mystery box Gelato sticks.

8 the official teams that are participating in the Gelato Europe Cup 2025: Italy, Germany, Romania, Albania, UK, Poland, France, Belgium.

Each team consists of 2 (two) competitors with skills in Gelato and Pastry-Chocolate, and a Team Manager: Italy lead by Alessandro Racca, with Gabriele Fiumara and Angelo Cardella, Germany lead by Stefano Lucchini, with Federico Sacchet and Tiziano Santin, Albania lead by Rosilda Collaku, with Dejvi Hajderaj Kevin Boseta Poland lead by Irdi Cuka, with Michal Molenda Anna and Siwiec Kaczmarczyk, UK lead by Taseer Ahmad, with Massimiliano Porta and Daniel Schevenels, France lead by Dartois Herve, Allan Cartignies and Enzo Babtista, Romania lead by Oana Gabriela Nita with Vladimir Andrei Dascalu and Morar Cornel Constantin and Belgium lead by Fabio Marasti with Maryne Poppe and Jose Romero.

Today the competition saw the teams racing in Mystery Box Test the definition of a recipe starting from mysterious ingredients drawn just before the competition started. One cream and 1 fruit taste. Germania with Raspberry, Albania with Green Lemon, Belgium with Passion Fruit, UK with Clementine, France with Apricot, Poland with Strawberry, Italy with Mango and Romania with Blueberry.

The tests were followed by the Gelato Cake: a combination of technique and design to create spectacular desserts, and new important test that will be included also next year in the Gelato World Cup: “Upcycled Gelato” tab test, a challenge designed to transform waste ingredients into authentic creations of excellence.

Each team has been judged from 3 juries: The ‘Artistic’ jury with all the Team Managers to assess the decorative and aesthetic aspect of the tests, The ‘Technical’ jury, made up of 3 international WORLDCHEFS professional judges, to evaluatè all taste-related aspects of all entries, Carlo Sauber, Sebastian Petterson and Ljubika Komlenic, and the ‘Press’ jury, made up of food and wine journalists, judging only the upcycled gelato, with: Federica Serva PuntoIT, Alexie Valois La Toque Magazin, Bernard Badarida TF1, Martina Kirchner Kabel Eins, Chiara Mancusi Pasticceria Internazionale, Mara Cella Vanity Fair, Lorenzo Cresci Il Gusto, Carlo Antonio Gentile RAI, Led by the director of the newspaper “Il Gusto” Eleonora Cozzella.

The press jury has assigned a special prize, out of the final scores, regarding the upcycled gelato. Winner of the special prize are: Italia, Francia, Belgio.

Tomorrow the teams will compete in 3 other technical and creative tests: the Mystery cream, the Single Portions in Glass Cup: elegance and innovation in individual format, and Gelato Sticks: creativity and precision in making ice cream on a stick.

Supervising the project is the CONTROL COMMITTEE in which each member has a vote in the event of disputes, and the GUARANTORS, who have supervisory functions in relation to the competitors during the competition and also coordinate the teams in their dealings with the jury. 3 Italian: Marco Venturino – Cinzia Otri – Antonio Morgese and 2 international: Marco Miquel Sirvent – Emanule Ryon, led by Sergio Dondoli known guarantor from the organisational committee.

The Gelato Europe Cup is an event that celebrates artisanal excellence, preparing the ground for the biennial appointment of the Gelato World Cup, a historic and culminating event where 12 teams from around the world will compete for the world title in January 2026 at Sigep in Rimini. Only four teams from the Gelato Europe Cup semi-final will enter the prestigious international competition next January.

The Gelato Europe Cup is supported by the sponsors: Anselmi, Babbi, Electrolux e Valrhona platinum sponsor.

Adamance e Carpigiani golden sponsor.

Silver sponsor sono Frascheri, Medac e Team System; sponsor tecnici Ico Cialde, IFI, Karel, Paperlynen, Reire, Sara Creazioni, Selmi, Sosa, Caffé Toraldo, Aia, Lauretana, Naonix.

Mistery sponsor, featured in the mistery box test, will be Anselmi, Frascheri, Babbi e Norohy.

Media Partners: PuntoIT di Editrade and Pasticceria Internazionale.

“Upcycled Gelato” tub, a new test at the GELATO EUROPE CUP

Un concorrente durante una delle prove della Gelato World Cup 2024

8 teams competing on 18 and 19 January 2025 at Sigep

Gelato Arena – Pad. A7

Rimini – The Gelato Europe Cup returns in January 2025 during the SIGEP in Rimini, bringing with it great news that reflects the growing attention to sustainability in the artisanal gelato sector. For the first time, the competition introduces the “Upcycled Gelato” tab test, a challenge designed to transform waste ingredients into authentic creations of excellence.

According to estimates, around 10% of the food available to EU consumers is at risk of going to waste. At the same time, over 37 million people in the EU cannot afford a quality meal every two days. These alarming data underline the urgent need for action to reduce food waste and food losses, key objectives for the EU in achieving a circular economy by 2050.

For Sergio Colalucci, president of the Gelato World Cup, this innovation represents a fundamental step towards greater environmental awareness: “With the Upcycled Gelato we want to demonstrate that the creativity of gealto makers can marry with sustainability, transforming food waste into precious resources. It is a challenge that looks to the future, combining technical excellence and social responsibility.”

The competition will see 8 teams from as many European countries competing, made up of 40 of the best gelato and pastry chefs and a team manager. The teams will compete in six technical and creative tests: in addition to the novelty of the “Upcycled Gelato” tab, the protagonists will be the Gelato Cake: a combination of technique and design to create spectacular desserts, the Single Portions in Glass Cup: elegance and innovation in individual format, the Mystery Box – Cream and Fruit: technical challenges based on surprise ingredients and Gelato Sticks: creativity and precision in making ice cream on a stick.

Participating teams: Italy lead by Alessandro Racca, Germany Stefano Lucchini, Albania Rosilda Collaku, Poland Aleksander Pitura, UK Taseer Ahmad, France Dartois Herve, Romania Oana Gabriela Nita e Belgium Fabio Marasti.

The Gelato Europe Cup is an event that celebrates artisanal excellence, preparing the ground for the biennial appointment of the Gelato World Cup, a historic and culminating event where 12 teams from around the world will compete for the world title in January 2026 at Sigep in Rimini. Only four teams from the Gelato Europe Cup semi-final will enter the prestigious international competition which brings together the best talents from around the world, offering a unique platform to present new trends and innovations.

These will be joined by the 3 teams selected last October at the Gelato Asia Cup and another 5 who will be selected respectively 1 at the Gelato China Cup at Sigep China from 24 to 26 April 2025 and 4 at the Gelato America Cup at FITHEP Buenos Aires from 9 to 12 June 2025.

See you at the Gelato Europe Cup from the 18th to the 19th of January 2025 al SIGEP The World Expo for Foodservice Excellence di IEG Exhibition Group in Rimini, Italy. The competition is organised by Gelato e Cultura srl with Sigep.

The Gelato Europe Cup is supported by the sponsors: Anselmi, Babbi, Electrolux e Valrhona platinum sponsor, Adamance e Carpigiani golden sponsor. Silver sponsor sono Frascheri, Medac e Team System; sponsor tecnici Ico Cialde, IFI, Karel, Paperlynen, Reire, Sara Creazioni, Selmi, Sosa, Caffé Toraldo.

Mistery sponsor, featured in the mistery box test, will be Anselmi, Frascheri, Babbi e Norohy.

Gelato World Cup: selections around the world

Si vede la torta gelato creata dalla squadra italiana durante l'ultima edizione della GWC.

Preparations are underway for the eleventh edition of the Gelato World Cup.

The coveted global competition organized by Gelato e Cultura srl with Sigep, The World Expo for Foodservice Excellence by IEG Exhibition Group, will see 12 teams from around the world competing for the world title in January 2026 at Sigep in Rimini.

From now and throughout 2025, selections will be held around the world to identify the teams that will take part in the 11th edition of the Gelato World Cup.

The semi-finals, that follow the national selections that took place last year, will take place according to a specific calendar with gelato and pastry competitions.

It will start in Singapore from 22 to 25 October 2024 with the Gelato Asia Cup where 3 teams will be selected at the FHA Horeca Singapore, followed by the Gelato Europe Cup at Sigep Rimini from 18 to 19 January 2025 for the selection of another 4 teams and then the Gelato China Cup at Sigep China from 24 to 26 April 2025 from which a team will emerge, to then conclude with the Gelato America Cup at FITHEP Buenos Aires from 9 to 12 June 2025 with the selection of another 4 teams.

«The Gelato World Cup – explains Sergio Colalucci, new president of the Gelato World Cup – is becoming an increasingly coveted cup and to select the highest level professionals, its participation increasingly requires semi-finals and national selections which make the selections more severe and professional, with teams worthy of a world competition. The teams will also have more than a year to train and refine their technique».

START TO SELECT WORLDWIDE FOR GELATO WORLD CUP

Gelato World Cup is back in 2024, the tenth edition of the Gelato World Cup scheduled at Sigep in Rimini in January 2024.

In the meantime, around the world are taking place the selections for the 12 teams that will be part of the international championship in 2024.

In view of the 10th edition of the Gelato World Cup, Gelato & Cultura is introducing a new intermediate race: the Gelato Europe Cup, the national teams selected in European Countries will have to compete in a semi-final like in South America with the Gelato Latin America Cup and in Asia with the Gelato Asia Cup. Therefore, each European nations must be selected in the semi-final with gelato and pastry chefs competitions.

«The news of the European Cup – explains Giancarlo Timballo, president of the Gelato World Cup – joins the other two intercontinental selections. The fourth edition of the Latin American Cup to be held in Buenos Aires in June 2022 and the Asian Cup, in its second edition, scheduled for October 2022 in Singapore. To these will be added one in the USA. The Gelato Europe Cup will make the selections more severe and professional, with teams at the height of a world competition. The teams will also have a year and a half to train and refine their technique. The passage in this elimination phase will be the test bench that leads to excellence “.

“A new beginning for a new organization – comments Flavia Morelli, Group Exhibition Manager of the Food & Beverage Division of IEG – which kicks off the “road to Gelato World Cup” that will lead us to Sigep 2024, in which the Gelato World Cup will be contested again, one of the key moments of this which is indeed a competition, but also one of the highest level training moments of Sigep ».

Another novelty for the tenth edition of the Gelato World Cup is the internationalization of the name of the competition, which from the Italian Coppa del Mondo della Gelateria has been made official in English Gelato World Cup with the update of the Cup logo. In the translation, the term Gelato has been retained to emphasize the craftsmanship of Gelato.

New logo for the Gelato World Cup, the stylization has been maintained, but the shape and colours of the cup that represents the international competition now in its tenth edition have been made clearer, making the logo more representative of artisanal gelato.

UNESCO HERITAGE APPLICATION: “MASTERS OF ARTISAN GELATO OF ITALIAN TRADITION”

PROMOTERS OF FOOD AND WINE EXCELLENCE AND AGRI-FOOD PROCESSING

Resolution 148_2020 of the Municipality of Cividale del Friuli
Membership and support for the UNESCO candidacy through local resources

Presented at Sigep the application for UNESCO recognition of the qualification of Masters of Artisan Gelato of Italian Tradition as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The Udine UNESCO Club, represented by architect Roberto Maida, UNESCO Udine delegate, together with the Municipality of Cividale del Friuli (formerly a UNESCO site for the Lombards), initial promoter, and Gelato e Cultura, organizer of the Gelato World Cup, has involved in this initiative the trade associations ACOMAG, Artglace, Associazione Italiana Gelatieri, CNA, Comitato Gelatieri Campani, Comitato Nazionale per la Difesa del Gelato Artigianale e di Produzione Propria, Conpait Gelatieri, Federazione italiana gelatieri, Fiepet, Gelatieri Artigiani Triveneto, Gelatieri per il Gelato, I Magnifici del Gelato, Maestri della Gelateria Italiana e Sigep, and intends to involve the entire supply chain.

An art, that of the master gelato maker, who has a long history and plans his own professional future. “It is an honour to announce an event of extraordinary value for gelato makers and artisan gelato. The process for the recognition by UNESCO of the qualification of Masters of Artisan Gelato of Italian tradition as an intangible heritage of humanity has been successfully started “said Luciana Polliotti, journalist, historian of gelato and co-founder of the Gelato World Cup.

The idea is to qualify training schemes and educational excellence for some types of artisanal gelato, through a high-level training school that draws resources from the territory and interacts with 5 circular economy clusters: Agri-food, Transformation, Food and Wine, Tourism, Catering and Hospitality, involving the entire supply chain and the culture of the Territory.

The experimentation with which the Municipality of Cividale, through the Civiform, a school of higher education in Friuli, will pursue innovative objectives of certification and qualification of professional skills otherwise left to be free of interpretation and without a specific and certified professionalism, will be supported by a system of UNI ISO21001 certified management, the new international standard for training. This certified system will make possible to issue a prestigious international certificate to course attendees. In addition, “People Certification” schemes will be envisaged according to the ISO17024 standard which will give a status of professional relevance with annual checks and three-year renewals to protect the qualification and protection of the professional figure of the Master of Artisan Gelato of Italian Tradition, as promoter of the excellence in food and wine and agri-food transformation.

The constitution of the Institutional Committee will allow the management of the candidacy through the results of the Technical and Scientific Commissions which will propose all the characteristics and protection requirements of the profession of Master Gelato maker to protect the excellence of the Italian artisan product.

The next step will therefore be to involve Bodies and Institutions of the Italian Territory in support of the Institutional Committee for the identification of training projects in each Territory that act as guarantors of the quality and excellence of Raw Materials and Processes of Italian tradition. In addition, for the performance of the circular economy, specific projects can be developed that enhance the entire Agro-Food and Food and Wine chain.

SELECTED IN MEXICO GELATO MAKER AND PASTRY CHEF

Selected yesterday in Mexico, gelato maker and pastry chef that will attend the semi-final “Gelato Latin America Cup ” scheduled for June in Buenos Aires. 3 professionals, including a second gelato maker option have been selected during the Campeonato Mexicano de Helado Artisanal:

Alfonso Jarero
Karla Aguilar
Jorge Rodriguez

Spanish selections for the European Championship, here the duo gelato&pastry chefs

The Spanish team that will participate in the European Gelato World Cup has been selected at the Intersicop.
The rules of participation ‘by right’ in the Gelato World Cup (CMG) have changed. Sigep will host the first European Gelato Cup in 2023, an elimination round in which the European teams that will participate in the 10th World Cup, to be held in Rimini in 2024, will be chosen.
The team that will represent Spain in this European qualification was selected on February 21, 2022, as part of the Intersicop. In the world competition, each team must consist of five members: a president and four professionals with knowledge in ice cream, chocolate pastry, ice sculpture and haute cuisine. Only two categories of professionals participated in this national test (a gelato maker and a pastry chef) who competed in the mystery box tests, single portions of gelato in decorated glasses and artistic gelato cake. The other components will be added later.
The gelato-pastry duo Adolfo Romero and Pepe Isla have been selected to represent Spain in 2023 in the new European Gelato Cup, an elimination phase in which the European teams that will participate in the 10th Gelato World Cup will be chosen, which will return to Rimini in 2024.
The selection took place on Monday 21 February, at the Intersicop fair, by a jury composed of Michele Bartolini, Carpigiani technician; Stefano Caruso, export director of Carpigiani, and the president of Anhcea, Marco Miquel.
As Romero explains, his buffet was dedicated to the phases of the moon. “In the lower part there is the moon and vertically a plate of chocolate sealed with different shades, ending with a final plate that would be the sky, the universe. In addition, the chocolate plates form the word moon”.
Inside the buffet were two pieces. On one side a glass with a moon half sphere (inside almond, honey and yuzu), on the bottom a cappuccino cake with crunchy almonds and a vanilla namelaka. On the other hand, a frozen cake in which there is a rocket inside “to go up and see what surrounds us much farther, in the universe,” he says. The cake consists of a coconut and yuzu ice cream, with a passion-vanilla interior and a strawberry and raspberry rocket. The base is of bitter almond sponge cake and is wet with a white icing and glazed inside with shades of gray. As a decoration, the star sugar rings with a ball in the center as if it were a planet.
For Romero, the Gelato World Cup is something very well known, since he was a member of the Spanish team that twice won the silver medal in the competition, in 2016 and 2018. For his part, Pepe Isla, Spanish Chocolate Masters 2015, is responsible for the research and development of Casa Isla, the reference brand for Spain.

Topic: News

Winners of the Gelato America Cup 2025