The world of patisserie is bubbling with excitement with the Pastry World Cup 2025 on the horizon; to be held at SIRAH – Lyon. This year, we are also pleased to be part of this event as a sponsor of the American team selection for this prestigious competition.
New Orleans: home of the continental team
On 11 June 2024, the vibrant city of New Orleans, the largest city in the state of Louisiana, hosted the final continental Americas selection round of the Pastry World Cup. This is the first time the event has been held in North America, marking a significant milestone in the history of the competition.
New Orleans, known for its rich history and vibrant culture, provided a perfect setting for this event. On the banks of the majestic Mississippi River, the city is famous not only for its jazz and carnival, but also for its unique cuisine, influenced by French, Spanish and African traditions. Attendees enjoyed local delicacies such as beignets, pralines and the iconic Mardi Gras “King Cake”, which added an authentic flavour to the celebration.
Competition and performance
Six countries from North, Central and South America competed fiercely to secure their place at the Grand Final to be held during Sirha Lyon in January 2025. The competition was intense and demonstrated the exceptional talent and creativity of the continent’s pastry chefs.
Argentina emerged victorious in the Americas selection, thanks to the brilliant performance of chocolate specialist Matías Dragun, and sugar expert Lucas Carballo. This team showed skill and innovation that impressed the judges and secured their place in the Grand Final.
Paraguay took a well-deserved second place, represented by Chiara Pederzani and Johanna Borgognon, who excelled in the chocolate and sugar categories, respectively. Colombia, with its talented pastry chefs Carlos De Ávila and Deiby Sánchez, placed third, demonstrating once again the high level of competition.
Chile, with its hard work and dedication, received a Wild Card that will also allow it to participate in the next Grand Final. This special recognition underlines the effort and excellence of the Chilean pastry chefs in the competition.
A double event of gastronomic excellence
The event not only highlighted the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie American selection, but also included the Bocuse d’Or Americas selection, making New Orleans the epicentre of international gastronomy and pastry for a few days. The best pastry chefs and chefs from the United States and across the Americas came together to showcase their talent and creativity, creating an atmosphere of inspiration and learning.
Test
The competing teams had 5 and a half hours to present the 16 tasting desserts and 2 artistic pieces, as well as a buffet:
- 3 frozen desserts with Capfruit fruit puree (+ 1 mock)
- 3 pastry pieces: Paris-Brest revisited with Elle & Vire dairy products (+ 1 mock)
- 8 restaurant style desserts incorporating a hot chocolate soufflé Valrhona.
- 1 sugar artistic piece.
- 1 chocolate artistic piece.
- 1 buffet including the artistic sugar and chocolate pieces, the mock frozen dessert and the mock pastry piece.
The teams from each country were made up of:
Matías DRAGUN – Chocolate candidate
He has been working in restaurants, hotels, and cooking schools for over 20 years.
Matias has worked in various roles, from teaching at the Gastronomy Institute in Argentina for 5 years to serving as the principal of the Ariel Rodriguez Palacios Culinary Study Center for a decade.
He studied at the Chocolate Academy in Chicago, the Bellouet Conseil in Paris, the Stephane Klein workshop in Belfort and the Emmanuele Forcone in Italy, which allowed him to travel and see many different culinary cultures.
Furthermore, he has his own gelato brand in Buenos Aires, and is an ambassador Callebaut Chocolate.
Matias’ resume already includes several wins, having won the national Artisan Gelato Championship in 2018 and getting 3rd place at the Coppa del Mondo della Gelateria World Cup in Rimini, Italy, in 2020. In addition, he participated in the French TV show “Le Meilleur Pâtissier Professional : Le choc des nations”
Lucas CARBALLO – Sugar candidate
Currently 30 years old, he has dedicated over a decade to the culinary arts, starting his gastronomic journey at 17.
Alongside being a teacher in several schools in Buenos Aires, he runs a successful pastry business.
Still, he continues to improve his abilities, as he takes classes whenever he can, such as Stephane Klein and Jordi Bordas.
His hard work paid off, leading him to win the National Pastry Championship in 2019 and the Latin American Artisan Gelato Championship in 2022.
Lucas has also collaborated with Team Argentina and Team Uruguay on the World Cup Exhibition of Artisan Gelato, Confectionery and Bakery, as well as pastry competitions.
Olivier POTIER – Chocolate candidate
Chef Olivier Potier is considered one of the best pastry chefs in Montreal. His pastry-making skills, which you can appreciate at his shop Chez Potier, are the result of working with some of the greatest chefs in Quebec and France, such as Éric Gonzalez, Christophe Morel, and Christophe Michalak.
Christophe SPORTELLINI – Sugar candidate
Chef Christophe loves a challenge and has participated in many culinary competitions.
After working in several renowned establishments in France and owning his own business, Christophe settled in Val-David where he owns Nani Nono, a confectionary renowned for its sugar specialties.
Rodrigo ROJAS – Chocolate candidate
He has been dedicated to teaching for more than 18 years, as a pastry teacher and coordinator.
He has trained in some prestigious institutions, such as École Lenôtre ad Bellouet Conseil in Paris, and the Chocolate Academy. On top of that, he learned from Stephane Klein and Stephane Leroux among others.
Throughout the time of his career, Rodrigo took part in several competitions, including the Mayan Cup (Mexico, 2008), the Latin American Ice Cream Championship (Argentina, 2015), the Gelateria World Cup (Italy, 2016), the Pastry World Cup (France, 2019) and the Boulangerie World Cup (France, 2024)
He is currently a chocolate candidate at La Roja Dulce.
Nadia CASTILLO – Sugar candidate
She has nearly two decades of experience, and still, is passionate about her job to this day.
From a young age, she enjoyed bringing joy to those around her through delicious pastries, and she has known she wanted to become a pastry chef since she turned 12, age at which she took a Christmas baking course.
Following two years of culinary school, Nadia carried out her internship at Restaurant Lameloise (***), in Bourgogne, France. She ended up staying in France for almost 5 years, learning as much as she could and working in several restaurants.
Nowadays, in addition to dedicating herself to Dulcívoro (her candy business), she teaches at a culinary school.
Carlos DE AVILA – Chocolate candidate
With 10 years of experience in hospitality, Carlos is now the Chef Owner of Vida Mia Pastry and Ambrosia, and still is passionate about pastry.
Carlos was the National Champion of Chocolate twice, the winner of Best Artistic Piece in the Chocolate Maya Cup 2015, and the Best Pastry Chef in Bogota 2018.
Deiby SANCHEZ – Sugar candidate
He considers his profession as his lifestyle, not just a job, but the dream he’s had since childhood. Derby states that pastry is “in his blood“.
He has been educated in various academies like SENA, and with several professionals in the field, which led him to excel in the sweet arts.
He now has his own academy where he teaches new people about the pastry world every day.
Erick MARTINEZ – Chocolate candidate
With 20 years of experience in the pastry ad bakery area, Erick is always looking to exceed expectations.
He is developing cutting-edge desserts, traditional Mexican biscuits, chocolate, ice cream and confectionery, using feedstock of the highest quality, including locally sourced products.
Miguel Angel PEREZ – Sugar candidate
He has been a pastry chef for 13 years. He’s worked in many high-level tourism hotels, and prides himself in using local Mexican ingredients.
Chiara PEDERZANI – Chocolate candidate
Since 2008, Chiara has held the position of production management at PEDERZANI GROUP.
Chiara followed various gastronomy-oriented courses from 2006 to 2010 in Paraguay. Her dedication to knowledge extends beyond her formal education as she served as Assistant to Professor Bernarso Zelaya at IGA Paraguay and did an internship at CHOCOLATRIA (São Paulo, Brazil) in 2016.
Chiara’s love affair with chocolate is a central theme in her journey. She honed hers skills under the prestigious tutelage of Simone Izumi, a renowned Chocolatier in São Paulo, Brazil.
Johanna BORGOGNON – Sugar candidate
At 34, Johanna has been in the pastry business for over 10 years. She studied abroad with renowned pastry chefs such as Carles Mampel, Bachour, Javier Guillen or Paco Torreblanca, and carried out her internship at Bubó Barcelona.
She now owns a catering business, which also offers quantity production for franchises.
Sosa Ingredients is pleased to have been a key part of this journey, supporting talented teams in the Americas and Latin America on their journey to pastry excellence. Our premium ingredients have been the preferred choice of chefs and pastry chefs around the world, and we are excited to see how these industry-leading teams use them to take the art of pastry to new heights in the grand finale of the Pastry World Cup 2025.
For more information on all the rounds, you can visit: “Coupe du Munde de la Pâtisserie.”