A weekend of intense competition took place in Lyon from January 22nd to 24th, 2011, during the Louis Lesaffre Cup international selection rounds for the Europe zone. The Espace Tendances Pain at the Sirha Show hosted this competition for the first time. Each team, proud to be representing its country, was composed of three candidates competing in three categories: Bread, Viennese Pastry and Artistic Piece. Ten countries participated in this selection round: Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Israel, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom, Russia, Slovakia and Sweden. Following the America zone selection rounds, this confirms the participants’ high levels of skill.
Three teams are now en route for the Bakery World Cup, to be held at Europain 2012: Holland, Sweden and Poland.
The Netherlands team members believe strongly in the motto of their coach, Hans SOM, who led them to victory : “a day without dough is a day wasted”. These candidates took away from the competition the sensation of sharing, rich contacts between the candidates, and the discovery of different techniques and know-how. Their plan now is to train more and more, looking ahead to their participation in the Bakery World Cup in 2012.
The members of the Swedish team have been working in the Bakery world for 15 years. Fighters to the core, this was not their first competition. The team came with the man they describe as their “master”, Johan SORBERG, and many supporters. They trained for one year, with a final month of daily training, to compete in the Louis Lesaffre Cup. What they want now is to remain in competition to continue to develop their experience.
Measuring their skills against the French and testing themselves individually, that is what motivated the Polish team. They worked very hard to take part in the Louis Lesaffre Cup, even training for 13 hours a day during the last two months. Their coach, Andrzej BORYCKI, had faith in their skills from the start and got his team to do their very best. “After this competition, we hope to be able to propose new products in our bakery, such as French baguettes”, declared the delighted winners.
Two “Challenger” teams really stood out for their amazing performances: England and Slovakia. These two teams may have the chance to win a place in the Bakery World Cup. To find out, we will have to wait until the end of the Louis Lesaffre Cup international selection rounds. An official announcement will then be made on the www.coupelouislesaffre.com site in June 2011, designating the “Challenger” team that will go to the world final
The next rendezvous will be from 22nd to 25th March 2011, for the Africa Mediterranean zone selection rounds, which will take place at the Crémai Show (Casablanca – Morocco). Four countries will be in the running to win a chance to compete in the Bakery World Cup.
