Gelato Festival World Masters celebrated the first Greek leg of the new four-year gelato competition calendar. The competition was organized by Domestica, Carpigiani distributor in Greece, and took place on March 4th and 5th at Artoza trade show in involving 9 Greek artisans. The jury decreed a ranking of 3 gelato makers selected to participate in the 2025  Greek Finals of Gelato Festival World Masters, the world championship organized with strategic partners Carpigiani and Sigep - Italian Exhibition Group. Flavor, structure, creativity, and verbal and aesthetic presentation were the four parameters by which the artisanal gelatos were evaluated, promoting the choice of ingredients, the artisans' mastery in elaborating the recipe, and the overall result evaluated through sight, taste and smell (see list of participants on the last page).

Here are the rankings of the 3 selected who enter the 2025 Greek Finals:  
1.    First place: Makis Mathiasos of Mathiasos in Naxos with the flavor “Cheescake of Naxos”;
Description: Cheesecake gelato with Mizithra, a traditional local cheese, variegated with a local variety of citron from Naxos
2.    Second place: Stylianos Nikolidakis of Kritikos Fournos Daily Bakery Café in Heraklion with the flavor “Cretan Cheesecake”;
Description: Cheesecake gelato with a strawberry variegation and Crete cookie crumble
3.    Third place: Dimitrios Charalambous of Gelato Palladion in Rodi with the flavor “Yoghurt Orange”
Description: Yogurt gelato with infusion of bergamot

The jury consisted of: 
•    Michalis Chatzikalimeris, Executive Pastry Chef Four Seasons Athens; 
•    Tasos Protopsaltis, Executive Pastry Chef and President of Chef's Club of Greece
•    Petros Mais, Executive Chef at Tasty Brands

With the 2022-25 edition Gelato Festival World Masters reaches its thirteenth year, having debuted in Florence in 2010 inspired by the conception of the first gelato recipe at the hands of the multifaceted architect Bernardo Buontalenti in 1559. Since then, the event has enlarged its boundaries by expanding first to the rest of Italy, then to Europe and - since 2017 - to the United States as well, before embracing the entire planet with the Gelato Festival World Masters world championship involving more than 3,500 gelato makers with the 2018-2021 edition.  
 
Gelato Festival World Masters 
Greece Challenge 
March 4-5, 2023 
Artoza Trade show, Athens 
Distributor: Domestica Greece

WINNERS

First place: Makis Mathiasos of Mathiasos in Naxos with the flavor “Cheescake of Naxos”;
Description: Cheesecake gelato with Mizithra, a traditional local cheese, variegated with a local variety of citron from Naxos

Second place: Stylianos Nikolidakis of Kritikos Fournos Daily Bakery Café in Heraklion with the flavor “Cretan Cheesecake”;
Description: Cheesecake gelato with a strawberry variegation and Crete cookie crumble

Third place: Dimitrios Charalambous of Gelato Palladion in Rodi with the flavor “Yoghurt Orange”.
Description: Yogurt gelato with infusion of bergamot
OTHER PARTICIPANTS

•    George Kostakis of Athenaeum InterContinental Hotel in Athens with the flavor “Nocino”;
•    Kyriakos Kastriotis of The Milky Way in Mykonos with the flavor “Happy Pie”; 
•    Louizos Symeonidis of Vanilla Gelateria in Thessaloniki with the flavor “The Aegean Vine”;
•    Themistoklis Asmas of Themis Ice Cream in Thessaloniki with the flavor “Crema - Vanilla Madagascar”; 
•    Nikos Zotos of Zotos Gelateria in Fira with the flavor “Melitini”; 
•    Yiannis Kornaros of Kornaros Pastry & Gelato in Creta with the flavor “Gelato Kalitsouni”;