The Gelato World Tour comes to the Middle East

After touring Italy, Spain and Australia , the Gelato World Tour will take place in Dubai during February 13-15, and is the first time the competition has been held in the Middle East.

The tour, which features lessons and workshops on the art of making gelato, will also pit 16 gelato artisans from the Middle East against each other. The top three winners of this stage, voted through by the public, a technical jury, and the competitors, will go to the Grand Finale in Rimini, Italy on September 5-7, 2014, to win the title of "World’s Best Gelato".

The event, which will be hosted in Burj Park, Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, has been organised by the Carpigiani Gelato University, which has 13 schools in the five continents, and Sigep-Rimini Fiera, the world’s premier expo in artisan food; alongside Italian foodservice and franchising consultancy company Desita and the franchising consultancy company, Franchise Middle East.

Franchise Middle East chairman and CEO Mana Al Suwaidi said: “We are extremely excited to be welcoming the Gelato World Tour to Dubai and look forward to introducing the people of the Emirates to this indulgent, yet still healthy delicacy. We believe that there are excellent franchising opportunities that come with this premier product and hope to see many new gelato-related ventures taking flight in the near future."

The Gelato World Tour represents an opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs in the Middle East to join a market rapidly making inroads into the global frozen deseert industry, which is worth tens of billions of US dollars worldwide.

Achille Sassoli, event manager of Carpigiani and Gelato World Tour, said: “Gelato is more than a typical dessert. Though its luxurious creaminess may intuitively suggest otherwise, gelato is made in a way that means it is significantly lower in calories and sugar than other ice creams. It is high in proteins, calcium and vitamin B2, while containing around half the fat of typical industrial ice creams – and is often accompanied by a selection of fresh fruit. We are delighted to bring a selection of the best gelato artisans to Dubai, and invite you to join us in our quest to find the world’s best gelato flavour."

The 2013-14 World Tour is due to visit eight cities in five continents. Three successful events have already attracted hundreds of thousands of people: 130,000 in Rome, 140,000 in Valencia, and 70,000 in Melbourne. After Dubai, the tour will continue to Austin, Shanghai and Berlin.