Belcolade Award 2026: the public chooses the pastry chef capable of showcasing chocolate

Tomorrow, online voting closes for the Belcolade Award 2026, the accolade created by Puratos Italia which, for several years now, has recognised pastry chefs capable of showcasing chocolate through technique, creativity and research.

The competition

Just as the interpretation of cocoa in haute pâtisserie is constantly evolving, so too is the award. This year, the competition becomes a genuine recognition of professional achievement, designed to celebrate those who have built a distinctive value in the sector over time, making chocolate an identifying feature of their work through dedicated products, creations and ranges.

The candidates’ professional stories will be at the heart of the assessment and, for the first time, the public vote will also count. Voting, which opened on 9 July, will close today, 4 September, via the form available on the Belcolade social media channels.

“The Belcolade Award was created to help talent grow, and this edition represents its natural evolution: from rewarding a single creation to recognising an entire career path,” explains Valentina Bianchi, marketing director at Puratos Italia. “Opening the vote to the public means bringing these stories out of the laboratories and sharing them with all enthusiasts. It is consistent with what we do every day with Cacao-Trace: showing that behind great chocolate there is always a chain of people, from the grower to the pastry chef.”

The technical jury

To ensure the rigour of the selection, a jury representing the entire Italian sweet-food supply chain remains central at every stage.

It comprises four masters from the Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani: Luca Montersino, one of the best-known figures in Italian pastry; Carmen Vecchione of Dolciarte; Domenico Spadafora of Spadafora Dessert; and Maurizio Frau, Italian Chocolate Champion 2018.

They are joined by food journalists Francesca Tagliabue and Lydia Capasso, and by professionals Enrico Rizzi, Kabir Godi, pastry chef for the Cannavacciuolo Group, and Davide Boidi, production manager at Giraudi. Valentina Bianchi of Puratos Italia completes the panel.

Each juror put forward three names deserving of the accolade, helping to compile the longlist of candidates. On 11 May, during the first meeting held remotely, each jury member then awarded every profile a score from 1 to 5. The six professionals who received the highest ratings became the finalists of the 2026 edition.

The six finalists

Six names and six stories showcase the richness of contemporary Italian pastry and chocolate-making.

Alessandro Spegis, born in Turin in 1985, after international experience alongside Paco Torreblanca and more than a decade as Guido Gobino’s chocolatier, opened Spegis Cioccolato in 2024, where Savoyard tradition meets a personal vision.

Alessio Gallelli, born in 1995, leads the pastry operation at the Park Hyatt Milano and the Pellico gastronomic restaurant 3. Having trained in the brigades of Andrea Berton and Nino Di Costanzo, in 2024 he won the award for Italy’s best restaurant pastry, presented by Grande Cucina.

Carolina Teodori, after twelve years with the Da Vittorio family of the Cerea brothers—with experience from St Moritz to Shanghai, and finally at DaV Mare in Portofino—chose at the age of thirty to return to Martinengo and open her own Pasticceria Carolina.

Daniele Bonzi has a CV spanning the three-Michelin-starred Da Vittorio and The Fat Duck, Harrods and Bulgari Hotel. After ten years leading the pastry operation at the Four Seasons in Milan, since 2025 he has held the role of Corporate Pastry Chef at Buonocore Hospitality Group.

Francesco Federici is pastry chef at Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, and an advocate of pastry founded on balance, technical rigour and measured sweetness.

Francesca Caon, born in 1993, is a maître chocolatier and founder of Caon Chocolate, an artisanal and digital enterprise in Racconigi that presents chocolate as an emotional and relational language.

The public vote

The top three in the online vote will receive a bonus: 10 points for first place, 8 for second and 4 for third. The bonus will be added to the final assessment by the technical jury, which will meet in person in Milan in the second half of September to award each finalist a score from 1 to 5. The winner of the Belcolade Award 2026 will emerge from the combined scores awarded by the jurors and the bonuses obtained through the online vote.

The winner will receive a prize that is both recognition and an opportunity for inspiration: a trip to one of the cocoa plantations participating in the Cacao-Trace project, Puratos’ sustainable supply-chain programme, which promotes cocoa quality and better living conditions for farming communities.

It will be an experience at the source of the raw material that supports the work of chocolate professionals every day. The official announcement will take place on Sunday 4 October 2026, at the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia di Milano, during the Gala Dinner of the XXX Public Symposium of the Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani. The evening will bring together the best of Italian pastry and crown the professional who, more than anyone else, has succeeded in making chocolate their signature.

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.