The Gelato World Tour 2013-2014 has started. The tour aims to find 40 gelato artisans, who will compete in the Grand Finale in Rimini , Italy in September 2014, battling for the title of World’s Best Gelato Artisan. The Gelato World Tour is the Olympics for gelato makers. It kicked off in Rome and then had a special gelato pit stop for drivers in the Mille Miglia vintage-car rally in Brescia. To celebrate the pit stop, instructors at Bologna’s Carpigiani Gelato University created a new gelato flavour, Mille Miglia Red, of raspberry variegated with meringue. The next stop in the tour is in Valencia, Spain from 5 to 7 July 2013, followed by Chicago, USA from 30 August to 2 September. The tour covers five continents and has stages in Dubai, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Sydney and Berlin. Sixteen gelato artisans are selected for each leg. They compete with flavours that combine tradition with innovation, bringing out the flavours of the best ingredients. The gelato is produced daily using high-quality ingredients selected by MEC3 (the world’s leading producer of ingredients for artisan gelato and pastry) in work areas visible to the public. Visitors to the Gelato World Tour Village can participate in short lessons on the art of gelato taught by instructors from Carpigiani Gelato University and can taste the fresh gelato by purchasing a Gelato Pass. The tour is organised by the Carpigiani Gelato University and Sigep, along with principal partners IFI and MEC3, technical partner Cono Roma, with the support of the Italian Foreign Ministry, the Italian Department of Culture and Rome Historical Centre and the Masters of Italian Gelato. The tour aims to spread the culture of fresh, high-quality gelato throughout the world, and represent the excellence and creativity of thousands of gelato artisans.