In the absence of 8 months for the celebration of the Gelato World Cup (Coppa del Mondo della Gelateria)  just confirmed the 12 teams that will participate in the next edition. Argentina, Australia, Colombia, France, Japan, Morocco, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, and the newly arrived Ukraine will compete in the most important ice crema event, to be held in Sigep, from January 20 to 23 2018, in the Italian city of Rimini.

Thus, in addition to Ukraine, two other teams have recently gained their access to the upcoming call. On June 5 and 6, the Colombian team won the third Latin American Artisan Ice Cream Championship held at the fair, Fithep, in Buenos Aires. Mexico managed to get to second place and also obtained its passage to the final in Sigep, in the Italian locality of Rimini. In third place was Brazil, which will be a reserve team. The good results of the Argentine team in the last editions of the World Cup guarantee their right to compete directly in the final, without having to previously pass through the Latin American Championship organized by AFADHYA, the (Argentine) Association of Artisan of Ice Cream Making and Similar, together with the Federation of Pastry, Bakers and Ice Cream Manufacturers (FTPSRCHPYA).

The five teams that participated in the Latin American Championship presented ice cream in three product categories: ice cream cup, mystery box, and ice cream cake. The Colombian team, made up of Laura Mojca and Frank Heideguer Aragon, rose to the top spot with the theme “Magical Realism”, inspired by the literary universe of Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. This eliminatory phase was attended by the president of the jury of the Gelato World Cup, Giancarlo Timballo.

The Gelato World Cup rewards the versatility of ice cream in very different tests, which privilege the convergence of ice cream making with pastry and cuisine. Hence the teams are composed of professionals of very different profiles. In this way, in addition to the ice cream makers, it is usual for the teams to have pastry chefs and chefs in their ranks. The next event will involve 60 professionals in the 12 national teams selected, 12 international judges and 7 different tests: decorated ice cream tray; ice cream cup; Mystery box (the realization of an improvised recipe around ingredients that will be unveiled during the course of the competition); ice cream cake; gastronomic ice cream that accompanies an entree; artistic piece (ice and guirlache); and chocolate ice cream snacks.

The competition will not have the current champion of the world, Italy, because, as the regulations state, the winners of the previous edition (in the case of Italy, in 2016) cannot compete in the next one. The second and third places, Spain and Australia respectively, will try again this year.