Santagata 1907 is the official supplier of the 10th Pesto Genovese al Mortaio World Championship

Also for this 10th edition of the Pesto Genovese al Mortaio World Championship, which took place on Saturday 23rd March at Palazzo Ducale, we are pleased to have been the official supplier of extra virgin olive oil.

Our PDO Riviera Ligure Riviera di Levante Frantoio Portofino extra virgin olive oil was used by the 100 competitors from all over Italy and around the world to prepare the green Genoese sauce, symbol of our region’s tradition and now a model of sustainability.

Congratulations from Santagata 1907 to the winner Mattia Bassi and all the participants in this edition.

PRESS RELEASE

Final of the 10th World Pesto Genovese Championship

THE BEST PESTO IN THE WORLD IS MADE BY MATTIA BASSI FROM GENOA, 56 YEARS OLD, 3 CHILDREN, A NAVAL ENGINEER WHO LIVES ON THE HEIGHTS OF ACQUASANTA IN THE WEST OF GENOA.

He beat off the 100 contestants from all over the world, who today, Saturday the 23rd of March 2024, challenged each other in the Salone del Maggior Consiglio of Palazzo Ducale, judged by 30 experts, gourmet opinion leaders selected nationwide.

Prizes were awarded to the oldest competitor, 90-year-old Maria Carbone, from Davagna, a small town in the Genoa hinterland, and to the competitor Kelly Rocha from further afield who won an elimination race of the Championship following the Ocean Race stages in Itajaì in Southern Brazil (9,846 kilometres from Genoa).

Attendance at the Championship was very high, with its side events, from the non-competitive children’s championship to the exhibition of ancient mortars from Genoese families, and ‘meetings and conversations’ on the latest studies and research on basil and pesto.

For the first time, three foreign contestants took part in the finals: Nyusuke Ota, a Japanese chef currently doing a work experience in Florence, Alberto Imparato of Italian origin living in Dublin, and Jeanne Beauvais, from Paris, who was selected during one of the preliminary rounds held under the Eiffel Tower.

Radio Deejay journalist Marisa Passera lent her voice to the championship.