On January 14‒15, the pastry-making professions will be honored during the 19th edition of the Pastry World Cup in Lyon, France. According to event producers, the Grand Final will bring together 60 experts, divided in 20 teams to try and reach the highest level to become Pastry World Champions.
“When I took over the presidency of the competition in 2019, I arrived with the ambition to enhance the value of the profession, to promote the transmission and excellence of the Pastry World Cup, while giving it a new, more committed and responsible impetus, comments Pierre Hermé, president of the Pastry World Cup. “The world’s pastry industry is at a crossroads, and it has probably never been more concerned with taste than it is with appearances. The candidates must be in tune with the challenges of modern pastry-making, a more committed pastry-making with a real attention paid to the use of raw materials. The competition level rises from one edition to the next, making it a perfect mirror of pastry-making, which is constantly reinventing itself and pushing back the boundaries of its art.”
Created in 1989 as the sweet counterpart to the Bocuse d’Or, the Pastry World Cup reportedly has established itself as a leading event in the sector. Loyal to its original DNA—to develop the profession of “ice-cream maker-pastry chef-chocolate maker”—the cup is intended to highlight the technical achievements of today's and tomorrow’s leading pastry chefs. The Pastry World Cup’s winners are ambassadors, and the competition is a springboard for a career and a professional’s life fulfilment.
According to organizers, the careers of World Champions are an example. The Belgian pastry chef and chocolatier Pierre Marcolini, World Pastry Champion in 1995, decided to launch his own business after his victory. Today, Maison Pierre Marcolini is present all around the world with more than 40 shops. Another success story is French pastry chef Christophe Michalak, World Pastry Champion in 2005. His victory propelled him onto the French media scene, allowing him to promote his art and making him one of the most renowned pastry chefs in the world.
The Pastry World Cup also often inspires chefs to pass on their skills. World Pastry Champion in 2011, Jordi Bordas opened 2015 his own pastry school, Jordi Bordas Pastry School, in Viladecans, Spain, where he teaches his B. Concept method: healthier and lighter recipes without altering the quality of the final product.
Winning the Pastry World Cup is (according to event producers) synonymous with achievement, the symbol of having reached the pinnacle of this art. To achieve it, it is necessary to demonstrate total talent and dedication during a two-year selection process: first at a national level, then at the continental step (Africa, Americas, Asia-Pacific, or European selection), and finally reaching the final stage: the Grand Final of the Pastry World Cup, which brings together the world’s pastry elite for two days in Lyon, France.
The Pastry World Cup is a technical challenge, where each team must demonstrate control throughout the competition. As one of the most demanding professions in the food industry, pastry chefs must combine discipline, rigor, and precision in the execution of their creations. This precision is reflected in all the competition's tests, and more particularly in a test that is out of the ordinary for pastry and
chocolate chefs, such as the creation of different artistic pieces in sugar, ice, and chocolate. As well as demonstrating technical precision, the candidates must also put their art to good use in the culinary show by creating a real gustatory show with a new competition’s test: the chocolate show, in partnership with Valrhona.
“The Pastry World Cup is one of the finest competitions, if not the finest, on an international scale. It continues to unite, pass on, and develop our multidisciplinary art. To take part in the Pastry World Cup is to witness the technical and artistic prowess that inspires an entire profession and helps it to grow again and again. Each edition of the competition brings a wealth of innovative ideas,” affirms Angelo Musa, World Pastry Champion in 2003.
