Gelato Festival World Masters, the main category tournament with partners Carpigiani and Sigep - Italian Exhibition Group, continues its journey around the globe searching for the world’s best gelato. The first North American stop of 2025 was held in St. Louis on February 11 where 8 gelato chefs took part in the sweetest competition of the year hosted by HESS, Carpigiani distributor.

The winning chefs of the February 11 gelato competition are:

First place
Tassia Vicentin Rezende of Tre Cuori Gelateria & Açaí in Ellisville (MO) with the flavor “Arachidi”
Description: all-natural peanut butter gelato with crunchy peanuts, dulce de leche, topped with Bel-gian chocolate.

Second place
Karyn Pumphrey of Gelato Queen in Monroe (GA) with the flavor “Caramel Apple Bourbon” 
Description: caramel bourbon gelato with apple pie and toasted pecan.

Third place
Mohammad Alqawasmi of Bazaria in Plano (TX) with the flavor “Fig Krokan”
Description: almond gelato with caramelized figs and almonds.

The selected gelato artisans will go on to the North America Semifinals of Gelato Festival World Masters scheduled for 2025. Flavor, structure, creativity and presentation are the four parameters used for the evaluation, highlighting the choice of ingredients, the craftsmanship in elaborating the recipe and the visual impact of the gelato (see below the full list of participants). 

The jury was composed of: 
•    Greg Jackson, Foodservice Consultant
•    Steve Christensen, Headmaster of Scoop School
•    Bill Gomel, Executive Director of Missouri Restaurant Association
•    Chris Hanson, Owner of “The Bean Doctor”

Gelato Festival debuted in Florence in 2010, inspired by the creation of the first gelato recipe by the versatile architect Bernardo Buontalenti in 1559. Since then, the event has expanded its borders, first to the rest of Italy, then to Europe and – starting in 2017 – the United States, with a total of 80 Festi-vals held, before embracing the entire planet with the world championship of Gelato Festival World Masters 2021, which concluded in December 2021 – with the victory of Adam Fazekas from Buda-pest – and saw a record of 3,500 gelato artisans judged by international juries. 

GELATO FESTIVAL WORLD MASTERS 
Missouri Challenge 
February 11, 2025
HESS

Winners:
First place
Tassia Vicentin Rezende of Tre Cuori Gelateria & Açaí in Ellisville (MO) with the flavor “Arachidi”

Second place
Karyn Pumphrey of Gelato Queen in Monroe (GA) with the flavor “Caramel Apple Bourbon”

Third place
Mohammad Alqawasmi of Bazaria in Plano (TX) with the flavor “Fig Krokan”

List of the other participants:
•    Michael Woolfolk of Mike Woolf Desserts in St. Louis (MO) with the flavor “Pink Velvet”; 
•    Jessica Wood of French Custard in Kansas City (MO) with the flavor “Strawberry Strac-ciatella”;
•    Larry Fuse of Gelato di Riso in St.Louis (MO) with the flavor “Mascarpone with Cherry”;
•    Angela Rose of Wally’s Pastry & Della Rose Gelato in Kansas City (MO) with the flavor “White Chocolate Cherry Rose”;
•    Elijah Jabari of Spoonful of Sugar in St. Louis (MO) with the flavor “Benton Park Butter-finger”.