The DESITA Gelato Award 2016 – Wonderful Winning Ideas!

Young, prepared and full of imagination – these were the characteristics of the many designers who participated in the first international contest for innovation in the gelato business – the DESITA Gelato Award, held at the Carpigiani Gelato University on 18th June, 2016.

The initiative, developed in mid 2015 and launched at Sigep this year, had the goal of bringing value and a breath of fresh air to a field not too inclined to reinvent itself, if not from the standpoint of flavors or of a few isolated attempts made by virtuous companies.

The winner, Alberto Lago from Bassano del Grappa, won €1,000, for his innovative idea of Gelato Pack Set, proposing a particular container for gelato delivery. Alberto told us of how the challenge stimulated him to complement his creative faculties with engineering studies and focus on the feasibility and sustainability of the idea.

Il progetto "GELATO PACK SET"
“GELATO PACK SET” project

The contest, in fact, invited designers to improve the #gelatoexperience for both operators and end users.

Sign up for the next edition

Norman Cescut, Ceo di Desita, Alberto Lago, il primo classificato, Kaori Ito, Director Carpigiani University
Norman Cescut, founder & CEO DESITA, the winner Alberto Lago, Director Carpigiani Gelato University Kaori Ito

Interestingly, both second and third place were awarded to the same designer – Maria Jaecelle Gecolea, a young 21 year old Philippine who enchanted the jury as well as the public with her two projects: CONETAINER and OH! MY Gooey.

Conetainer is a modern holder-cone, which can recover a melted gelato. Being a thorough gelato lover, Jaecelle started from the analysis of her own experience to achieve an extremely useful and practical solution. I would not be forced to eat my gelato in a hurry for the fear of losing half!” she remarked.

Il progetto "CONETAINER"
“CONETAINER” project

The concept OH! MY gooey, on the other hand, translated the need of customers to have an unforgettable experience of enjoying a gelato while developing a high-impact architectural habitat.

Il progetto "Oh, my Gooy!"
“Oh, my Gooey!” project

In addition to the cash prizes, Jaecelle has also been offered a remarkable opportunity to enjoy 3 months of paid internship in Italy at the industrial design facility of the Ifi sponsors department.

Norman Cescut, Jaecelle Maria Gecolea, designer seconda e terza classificata, Nicola Evoli di Grottini
Norman Cescut, Jaecelle Maria Gecolea, designer of second and third prizes, Nicola Evoli of Grottini

There were two special mentions at the awards too.

The first went to Irene Catherine Luca who combined her two great passions – respect for the environment and technology – to invent WAFFLE MAKER, a 3D printer to produce real-time wafers and gelato cones of various shapes and tastes, reducing waste and eliminating warehouse inventories.

Irene Caterina Luca e Norman Cescut
Irene Caterina Luca and Norman Cescut

The second special mention was given to Marta Lo Bianco and her ICARD: a business card that can become a teaspoon or a decoration.

Norman Cescut, founder of DESITA and Chairman of the jury said, “A moment of reflection was needed to re-imagine the world of gelato and we strongly believe that the generation most suitable today for bringing innovations to the benefit of the whole chain is that of Millennials. It is with and for them that we entrepreneurs have to work.”

The first edition of DESITA Gelato Award involved eight prestigious sponsors namely Carpigiani, Sigep, Ifi, Fabbri, Grottini Tostini, the Retail & Food Magazine as well as Iref Italy and Menafa.

The jury comprised designers, architects, journalists and highly qualified experts all placing great attention to the diversification, know-how development and yardsticks while looking for the next Holy Grail idea of extraordinary and sustainable gelato experience.

Sponsor the next edition

La giuria riunita presso Fabbri. Da sinistra Cesare Puglisi, editore, Gianpietro Sacchi, architetto/designer, Alessandro Luciani, Designer, Norman Cescut, Ceo Desita, Eleonora Cozzella, Food Journalist de L'espresso
The Jury at Fabbri. From the left, Cesare Puglisi, editor, Gianpietro Sacchi, architet/designer, Alessandro Luciani, designer, Norman Cescut, CEO of Desita, Eleonora Cozzella, food journalist de L’Espresso

Cesare Puglisi, journalist, editor and judge confirmed: “Initiatives such as DESITA Gelato Award are welcome not only to promote the goodness of gelato, but also to create trends and fads related to design and new shopping experiences and consumption.”

The food journalist of Espresso, Eleonora Cozzella, added: “Events like this, placing the homemade gelato at the highest level of sophistication, professionalism and skill, make it a product ready for export and gourmet challenges“.

The Carpigiani Gelato University has always been committed to spreading the Italian gelato culture across the world. In 2014, it organized the Gelato World Tour in Dubai with the support of DESITA.

Da sinistra, Irene Caterina Luca, Francesco Silvestrini di Ifi, Norman Cescut, Gabriella Di Girolamo del Sigep, Jaecelle Maria Gecolea, Alberto Lago
From the left, Nicola Evoli of Grottini, Irene Caterina Luca, Francesco Silvestrini of Ifi, Norman Cescut of DESITA, Gabriella Di Girolamo of Sigep, Jaecelle Maria Gecolea, Alberto Lago e Achille Sassoli of Carpigiani

The next step?

Collaborate with the designers so that they can put their creative ideas around gelato into production and, of course, organize the second edition of the contest!

For all the updates follow us on Facebook page and on www.desitagelatoaward.it

Sponsor or join the next edition

.

 

  • DESITA.IT
  • Desita Award, Eng, Home
  • No Comments

Related Posts

None found

Leave a Reply

*

IT EN
Simple Follow Buttons

You have successfully subscribed to the newsletter

There was an error while trying to send your request. Please try again.