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, our 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 are introducing our UK winners! Please meet Manchester’s winner: Samantha Cunliffe of Bene Gelateria.
Meet our Hereford finalist: Samantha Cunliffe
Samantha, owner of the award-winning Bene Gelateria in Frodsham, wowed the judges with her ‘Chocolate Orange Cocco Crunch’ flavour. The unique, festive flavour included a delicious custard-based gelato infused with ginger, cinnamon and orange; with dark chocolate stracciatella and diced candied ginger on top.
“It was such a great day with some amazing gelato chefs from all over the North of England, North Wales and Scotland. Thank you to Carpigiani UK for organising such a fabulous event and giving me the opportunity to showcase my gelato and represent the UK at the European Finals in 2025. I still can’t believe that I’m the winner, Italy here we come!”
Samantha was rightly very proud of her outcome, and that the vibrant, warming flavours resonated with the judges - they said it tasted like Christmas in a cone!
We are so excited to see what Samantha will whip up for the European Finals.
The Countdown to The European Final Begins
Carpigiani UK’s Managing Director, Paul Ingram, comments:
“The Gelato Festival World Masters brings together the very best artisan gelato chefs from across the globe and the entire Carpigiani team is looking forward to welcoming all international regional finalists to the European Final. Representing the UK is a huge achievement and we’re incredibly proud to be supporting Samantha, and our other UK finalists, Daniele and Jon, as they head to Bologna to compete for a place in the World Championship in 2026.”
The European Final will showcase the very best in artisan gelato, bringing together exceptional gelato chefs, each presenting an array of creative and delicious gelato dishes – created using professional Carpigiani equipment – to a panel of industry experts who will critique the taste, structure, creativity, and presentation of the gelato.
We are pleased to showcase the best gelato chefs in the UK as part of the Gelato Festival World Masters European Final and look forward to attending this amazing competition in just a few weeks’ time!
Topics from this blog: Artisan Gelato Machines Artisan Gelato Ice Cream