The contest of confectionery industry “Sweets feast”, organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Abkhazia was held in the restaurant Ertsahu.

The festively decorated patio of the restaurant presented confectioners fr om all cities of Abkhazia, including well-known confectioneries, individual entrepreneurs, professionals and confectionery lovers. The first competition was organized in 2013.

Organizing the competition for confectioners the Chamber of Commerce and Industry proceeded from good intentions, considering that the competition is not only a platform for demonstrating sweet masterpieces, but also an opportunity for confectioners to test their strength.

Unfortunately, in 2020, the competition was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pastry competition is, first of all, a beautiful holiday that gives everyone positive emotions, distracts from reality. And secondly, it is a holiday, wh ere you can taste delicious sweets.

Cakes and pastries, oriental sweets, various pastries, masterpieces of chocolate and mastic, honey cakes, desserts and much, much more were presented in the competition. And the guests not only tried all this, but were also surprised by the variety of products and tastes.

This year, 25 confectioners took part in the competition - from Sukhum, Ochamchira, Novy Afon, Gudauta and Pitsunda.

According to the good old tradition, the competition works were evaluated by a special jury, which changes every year. This year, the jury was headed by Galust Trapizonyan, head of the State Committee for Standards, Consumer and Technical Supervision. It also included: food processing engineer Nadezhda Geria, board member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, director of the Yersakhu restaurant Irina Zarkua, chairman of the Confectioners Guild of Abkhazia Liana Bijba, and two Michelin stars of the Hilton La Maison du Boeuf restaurant in Brussels, now the chef of the “Garuda boutique hotel” Jean Aschner.

This year, the contestants competed in nine nominations: five - traditional and long-known to participants and guests - "Best Cake", "Best Pastry", "Best Oriental Sweetness", "Best Butter Dough", "Audience Choice Award", as well as for four newly established by CCI - “The best mousse product”, “The best healthy nutrition product”, “The best leavened bread” and, a special prize in the “Best exhibition design” nomination.

According to the voting results, the winners are:

Christina Kvaratskhelia - "The Best Cake";

Sabina Ardzheniya - "The best pastry";

Aditsa Abukhba - "The best oriental sweetness",

Nana Chikovani, "Cardamom" Confectionery - "The best butter dough";

Eliso Jinjolia - Audience Award;

Batal Gabelia - "The best mousse product";

Agumava Madina "Cardamom" - "The best product of healthy nutrition";

Zhiba Marianna - “The best leavened bread”;

Ilana Hagba - special prize in the category "Best Exhibition Design";

Oksana Papba - Special prize from the jury;

And, of course, the winner in the main nomination "Confectioner of the Year 2021" - Shikhovtsov Anton, Leon restaurant.

According to the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tamila Mertskhulava, in recent years, interest in the confectionery business has noticeably grown, as has the prestige of the pastry profession. There are many lovers who bake custom-made cakes, as evidenced by ads on social networks. They write a lot about confectioners and shoot TV programs.

And this area itself is developing very intensively. New bakeries and pastry shops are opening, there are more confectioners who want to introduce something completely new, new trends have emerged that are especially loved by customers. Moreover, their number is constantly increasing.

I sincerely congratulate the winners of the competition and wish all the participants inspiration, professional growth, numerous competitions, awards and satisfied customers.” - said Tamila Mertskhulava in conclusion.