Carpigiani's Gelato Festival
In November 2024, we hosted the UK leg of the world-renowned Gelato Festival, in partnership with Carpigiani and Sigep!
Our three heats across London, Manchester, and Hereford brought together some of the UK’s best gelato chefs, all competing for their place in the Gelato Festival World Masters European Final in Italy.
Taking place in Bologna, 30th – 31st October 2025, three UK finalists will compete against more than 40 gelato chefs from across Europe to battle it out for their spot in the World Masters! These competitions truly highlight the talent across our industry, recognising the skill and passion that goes into creating stand-out artisan gelato recipes.
Ahead of the European finals, we caught up with our UK winners! Please meet London’s winner: Jon Adams of Gelato Gusto in Chichester.
Meet our Hereford finalist: Jon Adams
After a 14-year career in the TV industry and winning a BAFTA in 2011, Jon decided to quit the daily commute between Hove and London's King's Cross to spend more time with his family, be by the sea, and most importantly, to make his dream of becoming an artisan gelato producer a reality.
Jon’s connection with Carpigiani goes right back to the start of his gelato journey, as he explains “I discovered the Carpigiani University of Gelato in Bologna, Italy, and was inspired to open my first gelateria in Brighton's North Laine in 2012. For me, working with Carpigiani equipment is always a pleasure. It gives me confidence to know I am producing the best quality artisan gelato and sorbetto I possibly can. Carpigiani is often referred to as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of gelato equipment – and rightly so.”
After opening Gelato Gusto, the business continued to grow, and Jon opened his second gelateria on Brighton's seafront in 2019.
With ten successful years selling award winning gelato and sorbetto under his belt, Jon decided to sell the retail side of the business to focus on supplying wholesale customers from his dedicated production kitchen just outside Chichester.
Full of industry knowledge and hands on experience, it’s no wonder Jon’s Liquorice & Salted Caramel flavour – a plant-based caramel gelato with a hint of salty liquorice – wowed our judges.
With the rise in popularity of plant-based gelato, Jon showed his technical skill by nailing what can sometimes be a risky and challenging choice.
Judges were looking at criteria including flavour, structure, creativity and presentation. Jon’s strong choice of ingredients, his craftsmanship, and visual display of his flavor demonstrated exactly what our judges were looking for. His success means the West Sussex gelato maker will advance to the European Final scheduled for October 2025!
The Carpigiani Gelato Challenge
Speaking on his experience in the Gelato Challenge, Jon says:
“I was totally surprised to have won the London and South East heat of the Gelato Challenge and to qualify for the European Final - it was quite a shock! At the very last minute, I was recommended to enter by one of my suppliers, so I didn’t think I had much of a chance with the competition being so strong. I was mainly looking forward to the opportunity of spending a day meeting my fellow competitors and seeing how they work and presented their competition flavours. It’s always inspirational to see how other professionals in the industry work and share new ideas.”
To return to Bologna after twelve years in the industry is a full circle moment for Jon, as he explains:
“It’s fantastic to be returning to the Carpigiani headquarters in Bologna – back where it all began. I never imagined when I started this journey over twelve years ago that I would be competing against the best in Europe, it’s a dream come true!”
Carpigiani UK is thrilled by the success of the 2024 competition. Recognised globally, we are pleased to showcase the best gelato chefs in the UK as part of the Gelato Festival World Masters and look forward to supporting more gelato artisans through future competitions to come.
Be sure to watch this space and keep an eye on our socials as we keep you up to date with Jon’s progress in the European Final! Good luck Jon!
Topics from this blog: Artisan Gelato Machines Artisan Gelato Ice Cream