World Championship of Bread Sommeliers
The latest news about the competition summarised here for you.
Of the 45 bread sommeliers from 12 countries, 16 graduates have qualified for the final at iba. The challenge: mastering tasks relating to international bread culture with flying colours (Round 1), proving themselves in the art of describing bread and in the expert interviews (Round 2)
The jury
The expert jury responsible for judging the competition is made up of Johann Lafer, Professor Michael Kleinert and Bernd Kütscher from the Federal Academy in Weinheim. They have been following the development of the bread sommelier movement since its inception ten years ago. The movement now has 279 graduates from 12 countries, while a further 35 bread sommeliers from various nations are currently in training.
Procedure
The first round takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and presents participants with exciting challenges relating to international bread culture - including a flavour challenge. The speciality: The audience can take part in each challenge and gain an insight into the diversity of bread varieties worldwide as well as various flavour samples.
In the afternoon, at 4 pm, the second final round begins, which is dedicated to the art of bread description and expert interviews.
The crowning finale will be the award ceremony, where all finalists will be honoured and the title of World Bread Sommelier Champion will be awarded for the first time.
The 16 finalists are:
- Alfred Bau (Switzerland)
- Aleksandra Bednarek (Poland)
- Yannick Berend (France)
- Sebastian Brücklmaier (Germany)
- Zaida Everon (Aruba)
- Natalie Frühwirth (Austria)
- Toni Hager (Germany)
- Christoph Heger (Germany)
- Michael Kress (Germany)
- Heike Meyer (USA)
- Hamish Morrin (New Zealand)
- Urs Röthlin (Switzerland)
- Jörg Schmid (Germany)
- Laura Schütz (Romania)
- Daniel Sunzenauer (Denmark)
- Patrick Zimmer (Germany)
The final will take place on 21 May 2025 at 17:00 in the iba.forum.
