Contemporary Artisanal Gelato: the revolution we can make

Davide Paolo Alamia is the founder and director of Sherbeth, the International Artisan Gelato Festival. Since 2007, he has promoted gelato as an expression of culture, identity, and artisanal expertise, bringing together master gelato makers from around the world. Through the Festival, he fosters dialogue between culture, research, and innovation, highlighting Sicily as a hub for international exchange and collaboration, as well as a tourist destination.

A professional journalist and editor, born in 1981. Born and raised in Irpinia, she put down roots in Rome very young to pursue her passion for news and audiovisual media. After an early career in environmental and political newsrooms, she has been part of the Gambero Rosso team since 2009. She edits the guide Le Migliori Gelaterie d'Italia 2027 and other publications of the house, and teaches food criticism in the postgraduate courses of Gambero Rosso Academy.

Dr Amanda Dupas is a senior researcher at Massey University, New Zealand, specialising in sensory and consumer science, as well as a qualified sommelier. She has over 10 years of experience in consumer-centric research across a wide range of food and beverage categories. Her work focuses on understanding cultural differences, consumer choices and preferences, and emotional responses to food and beverages. Alongside her research, Amanda works closely with industry partners, particularly in the food and beverage sector, to understand their challenges and provide advanced sensory and consumer insights that support more informed business decisions. Passionate about wine, verjuice, and all kinds of food — including gelato — Amanda lived in Italy for almost five years, where she completed her PhD at the University of Padova in Conegliano and obtained her Sommelier certification with FISAR Treviso. She is strongly committed to advancing knowledge and fostering innovation across research, industry, and education.

Luca Gamba is the founder and master gelato maker of Drop Gelato, an artisan business born in 2022 in Brescia. After years working as a surveyor, he decided to change the course of his professional life by following his passion for gelato making. To build solid foundations he trained at Cast Alimenti, one of Italy’s leading schools, deepening his knowledge of raw ingredients, balancing and production techniques. From the beginning Drop Gelato’s philosophy has been founded on the careful selection of ingredients, daily production and respect for seasonality, with the aim of offering a product that is genuine, balanced and recognisable. Continuous experimentation with flavours and pairings – from hay gelato to mace – combined with respect for the artisan tradition is the distinctive feature of the business. The gelateria also offers “gelato aperitifs”, events dedicated to gastronomic gelati and to surprising dialogues between sweet and savoury, consolidating a contemporary, curious identity. The growth of the project led in 2026 to the opening of a second shop, confirming the success of a model based on quality, sustainability and attention to the local area, in which research and passion guide every choice.

Martina Liverani is a journalist, writer and independent curator of editorial and cultural projects in the world of food. For over twenty years she has told gastronomy through a lens that weaves identity, territories, memory, conviviality and material culture. She has worked with Italian and international titles such as Vogue Italia, Monocle, Living – Corriere della Sera, Vanity Fair, Huffington Post, Identità Golose, Gambero Rosso, La Cucina Italiana, Sale & Pepe and la Repubblica; she took part in Women for Expo as author and editorial consultant, has contributed to Il Gusto di Repubblica since 2021 and writes a monthly column in Sale & Pepe. In 2013 she founded Dispensa, an independent magazine that imposed a new language in food storytelling, also published in English and distributed in Italy, Europe and the United States. In 2020 she was named Gastronoma d'Italia and in 2021 she spoke at TEDxBiella with the talk 'Creativity is a shopping list'. Since 2018 she has curated Fame Concreta for AICC – the Italian Association of Ceramics Cities, on the dialogue between food, ceramics and conviviality. Her books include 10 ottimi motivi per non cominciare una dieta, Manuale di cucina sentimentale, Atlante di geogastronomia (published in Germany as Atlas der Kulinarik), Guarda dove mangi. Ceramica in tavola and Oriolo, tra le vigne e le stelle. Projects and formats such as Guarda Dove Mangi, the Club of women who love cheese and the courses in Culinary Autobiography and Family Recipe Books capture the heart of her work: using food not as a mere subject but as a narrative, emotional and cultural device. Can food become the key to telling not only a product or a place, but how we relate, pass on culture and build an authentic idea of excellence? Yes — because food, when well told, speaks not only of quality but of who we are, how we welcome and what we choose to remember. It creates meaning, generates empathy and leaves a memory.