On May 18 and 19, 2025, the best bakers from six countries will compete for gold at the iba UIBC Cup of Bakers, an event organized by the German Baker’s Confederation (Zentralverband des Deutschen Bäckerhandwerks), the owner of iba. This year’s theme is ‘Art’. The competition will start in Hall 14 on Sunday morning. Bakers from Germany, France, Iceland, Jordan, the Netherlands and Sweden will bake for the prize.
Visitors to the trade fair will be able to follow the creation of the tasty baked goods live every day starting from 9:30 am. The first judging on the theme of ‘Danish pastries, biscuits and party products’ will take place on Sunday and Monday noons at 1:00 pm. The presentation of the masterpieces will take place in the afternoons at 3:30 pm. The second round of judging on the theme of ‘Bread and the Masterpiece’ will take place on Sunday and Monday at 4:00 pm.
On Sunday, May 18, Iceland, the Netherlands and Sweden, and on Monday, May 19, Germany, France and Jordan will compete for gold with their baked works of art.
The winners will be awarded on May 19, at the the iba.FORUM.
The iba UIBC Cup of Bakers requires both creativity and a precise artisan bakery. Under the motto ‘Art’, the participants have to produce edible works of art. In six hours, the teams of two bakers produce bread, small, party and Danish pastries as well as a showpiece in glass show bakeries.
An expert jury will judge the showpieces and will be supported by the trade fair audience. The jury is made up of Urs Röthlin (Switzerland), Jimmy Griffin (Ireland) and Josef Schrott (Austria) as well as jury chairman Andreas Schmidt (Germany). The final award ceremony will take place on Monday, 19 May.
Johanna Lenhardt and Lea Wagner, master bakers from the region of Lower Franconia, will be competing for Germany in the iba UIBC Cup of Bakers: ‘The competition is the premier class for us and it is an honor to be able to represent Germany against the international competition,’ emphasizes Johanna Lenhardt. And Lea Wagner adds: ‘We hope that we can impress the audience and the jury with our baking skills. Above all, we are looking forward to exchanging ideas with our foreign colleagues. After all, we all belong to the big baking family’. The German champions are part of the German national bakery team, with Marc Mundri supporting the duo as their coach.
‘The iba UIBC Cup of Bakers competition is a wonderful opportunity for talented bakers to prove themselves on an international level. As in the past, we expect outstanding work at the highest level. For the participants, the competition means hard work with intensive preparation times, but above all a lot of fun and inspiration for personal development,’ emphasizes Andreas Schmidt, chairman of the jury.
Competing teams:
France: Corentin Molina and Yannis Thouys
Germany: Johanna Lenhardt and Lea Wagner
Iceland: Sigrun Sol Vigfusdottir and Nastasja Kiencke
Jordan: Hala Abu Jbara and Tand Murad
Netherlands: Mike Onase and Gerrit Huckriede
Sweden: Andrea Wiberg and Cassandra Persson
Photo credit: GHM
