Canadians among candidates vying for a World Master Baker title

Paris, France — The Masters de la Boulangerie will bring together a wealth of elite professionals during the Europain trade show.

The Masters de la Boulangerie, organized by Lesaffre, marks the final stage in a team competition cycle over three years, comprising the 2014-2015 Louis Lesaffre Cup and the 2016 Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie. Only 18 candidates have the privilege to take part in this prestigious competition as individuals. Twelve have been selected on the best scores obtained as individuals during either the Louis Lesaffre Cup and/or the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, and six were chosen for their promising potential. Marcus Mariathas, director of product development at ACE Bakery, and Alan Dumonceaux, chair of the baking program at NAIT, will represent Canada from Feb. 3-6.

More than a competition, the Masters de la Boulangerie is a catalyst for talent and a global platform for the bakers. The candidates, with their extraordinary levels of expertise, will need to surpass themselves in the challenges to try to win the ultimate title of World Master Baker in one of the three specialties: Nutritional Bread Making, Gourmet Baking and Artistic Bread Making. Mariathas will be competing in the Nutritional Bread Making and Dumonceaux in Gourmet Baking.

In each specialty, six candidates will be evaluated as much on technique as on sales and marketing, communications, economic factors and even on the social and environmental responsibility linked to bread making. To this end, the organizing committee has established a new approach to the specialties with compulsory products and also challenges linked to evolutions in baking and the profession’s future, in which the candidates must surprise with their creativity and ingenuity.