When gelato creates social value

Lucia Lauro is a social worker who has worked with children and young people since 1999. Passionate about social organisation, she specialised at LUMSA in the planning and management of social policies and public services, imagining innovative responses to the problems of the city of Palermo and running several pioneering projects against violence on minors and for the employment of care leavers. In recent years she attended advanced management training, first at the School of Civil Economy and then at Bocconi's School of Management. She has been tutor and then lecturer in Social Work Methods and Techniques at the University of Palermo, conveying to young people that social work is a profession where emotions and creativity are necessary, and has worked on social evaluation, ISO organisational assessment and social impact assessment. In 2016 she founded the social enterprise Cooperativa Rigenerazioni onlus and led the Cotti in Fragranza project and its spin-offs Al Fresco and Casa San Francesco Rooms, experimenting with innovative educational models for the social and work reintegration of young prisoners, former prisoners and young people at risk of marginalisation, in catering and tourist hospitality. Today she is project manager of the Don Calabria Foundation's innovative start-ups across Italy.

Giovanna Musumeci is a master gelato maker based in Randazzo, on the slopes of Mount Etna. She grew up in her family’s gelateria alongside her father, Santo, who has been in the business since 1967. After studying Economics at the University of Catania and completing a master’s degree in Marketing and Communication, she left the field of territorial development planning in 2010 to pursue a career as a gelato maker. She trained under master gelato maker Luca Caviezel and, in 2014, participated in the Sherbeth Festival competition on her own for the first time. In 2016, she received the Caviezel Award, dedicated to her mentor, followed in 2017 by the Foodies Challenge Award in the gelato category. Her creative exploration begins with flavour and gelato’s ability to convey emotions, experiences, and a sense of belonging. At Gelateria Santo Musumeci, awarded the prestigious Tre Coni (Three Cones) by Gambero Rosso, she interprets Sicilian ingredients and traditions through a contemporary perspective, while maintaining a deep connection to Randazzo and the Mount Etna region. Giovanna Musumeci has been a member of the Sherbeth Festival Technical Committee since 2018, coordinating the development and organisation of the festival’s programme of talks and cultural events.

A professional with over fifteen years of experience in social planning, project management and the development of local networks. His path springs from the meeting of economic studies, civic commitment and social innovation, consolidated through consulting, training and the coordination of complex third-sector projects in Italy and abroad. He is currently President of the Consorzio Libera Terra Mediterraneo, a network of social and agricultural cooperatives that manage assets confiscated from the mafia and promote sustainable, high-social-impact development models. In this role he works to strengthen the cooperatives' organisational, economic and strategic capacity, build ethical supply chains and create growth opportunities in local communities through the social economy and the productive reuse of confiscated assets.

Maria Riccobono (born in 1989) took her first steps into the restaurant industry at just 15 years old, starting from the ground up with dishwashing and kitchen duties. After graduating from a classical high school, she made the determined decision to turn her lifelong passion into her profession. Her professional training and experience have taken her through various culinary environments across Italy, from Vicenza to Florence and Bologna, continuously enriching her knowledge, skills, and culinary techniques. Returning to Palermo, her hometown, marked a decisive turning point, allowing her to put down roots and further develop her personal vision of cooking. Over the past three years, she has combined her professional career with the social and educational value of food. She teaches culinary arts at a vocational training school and coordinates the production department of Cotti in Fragranza, a social enterprise operating within the Malaspina Juvenile Detention Centre in Palermo. For Maria, cooking is both a genuine passion and a powerful tool for personal growth, rehabilitation, and social redemption.

Patrick and Daniela are a couple in work and in life who in 2020 opened Idem Congelato, a small artisan gelateria in Reggiolo, after studying and working in fields other than gelato and pastry. Their experience began in adulthood and developed through specific training that allowed them to turn a dream into a concrete reality. At first Patrick concentrated on gelato, while Daniela looked more after the pastry side, though both remained involved in every phase of design and production. For some years now they have expanded their range with large leavened cakes and brioches made with their own sourdough starter, which is mainly Patrick’s domain, while Daniela devotes herself more and more to gelato, with particular attention to flavours designed to meet needs related to allergies, intolerances and dietary choices, especially plant-based ones. Their work unites versatility, research and care for the customer, with the aim of offering an artisan product that is contemporary, inclusive and tailored to different needs.

A freelance journalist, she spent half her life between Milan and Rome before returning to Turin, where her suitcase is always packed. She writes about food and travel to discover and tell stories, works as a food critic and has a background in marketing and communication. She loves cooking, pizza, gelato, cocktails, the sea, the woods, the rain, going to the cinema alone and laughing out loud. She adores change and transformation — to feel alive.