Davide Angei

Gelato maker

Davide Angei has worked in the gelato industry for over twenty years. He joined the IRCA team in 2016 and his wealth of knowledge was invaluable when developing our JOYGELATO brand together with fellow ambassador Agustin De Marco.

Tips

If you don’t know how to call an ice-cream, ask Davide! All of our most original ice cream products have also been influenced by Davide, from 'Melizèn' to 'Croccantissimo Me'.

Gennaro Barbato

Pastry Chef and Chocolatier

Highly skilled chocolate and bonbon expert as well as a master pastry chef, Gennaro began his career in 1970. Over the years he has had the opportunity to specialize while working at some of the largest companies in the industry and also won many prestigious awards. A consummate professional, Gennaro has also been an instructor at some of the top professional training centres and joined the team of ambassadors in 2019.

Tips

Gennaro is famous for his immeasurable charm: he is always in a good mood when he comes into the chocolate laboratory! He has been an integral part of the team of ambassadors during SIGEP for many years and has personally developed and made wonderful creations with IRCA products.

Fabio Birondi

Chef Executive, Pastry Chef and Chocolatier

Fabio is the director of our Academy. He began his career as a pastry chef at the famous “Da Vittorio” restaurant in Bergamo before moving to London to work in a celebrated patisserie. Fabio’s experience in London gave him an opportunity to expand his knowledge of patisserie and lend his profile a more international flavor. He joined the IRCA team in 2010.

Tips

Known by everyone as ‘The Birox’, Fabio is the epitome of creativity at IRCA. He designed an entire display with an ‘around the world’ theme for the 2016 SIGEP, creating twelve desserts to represent twelve different countries.

Alessandro Bresciani

Baker

Alessandro taught breadmaking and pastry making for many years, including at the Cast Alimenti cookery school, and has extensive experience as an instructor at Italy’s top schools. A food technician and specialist consultant, Alessandro joined the IRCA team as a baking instructor in 2017.

Tips

Hugely talented and experienced baker, Alessandro loves teaching and is happy to share his secrets. Everyone loves Alessandro for his irresistible charm and uniquely ‘Bresciani’ personality.

Marco De Grada

Pastry Chef, Chocolatier and Baker

Marco is the Master Ambassador and in charge of the entire team. He joined the IRCA team when he was just twenty years old. He has over thirty years of experience as a researcher for semifinished products for the patisserie and breadmaking market.

Agustin De Marco

Gelato Maker

Agustin was born into a family of ice-cream makers and pastry chefs. He followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and his first job was in the family’s ice-cream parlour. Agustin joined IRCA in 2016 and became one of the key testimonials for theJOYGELATO project. Agustin nasce in una famiglia di gelatieri e pasticcieri. Seguendo le orme del nonno, trova il suo primo impiego presso la gelateria di famiglia. Nel 2016 approda in IRCA e diventa uno dei principali testimonial del progetto JOYGELATO.

Tips

The decoration artist: if a tub of ice cream needs decorating, call Agustin. At IRCA, we love giving creativity free rein: when Agustin’s jars of decorations were placed end to end at SIGEP in Rimini, they were almost five metres tall.

Pepper Digital Ambassador

Chef

Pepper is a social humanoid robot who loves being around people: he loves chatting with us and does everything possible to make himself useful. He speaks more than twenty languages, knows loads of jokes and has a real passion for desserts and all the tasty things in life! He is so enthusiastic, charming and kind that we asked him to join our team of ambassadors, and luckily for us he said yes!
Pepper joined our team for the SIGEP 2019: if you were at the event, you would have met him on our stand and maybe even taken a selfie with him.

Tips

Pepper was designed in France to communicate with us humans and lend us a hand. He is fitted with cameras so he can see and a range of sensors so he knows when somebody is near or approaching or if something is in his way. Come and meet Pepper in person!

Piero Gervasi

Pastry Chef

Huge fan of patisserie, Piero began his career in some of the big patisseries in Syracuse as a pastry chef’s assistant before going on to become head chef then an external consultant for several companies in the industry. Piero joined the team of ambassadors in 2018.

Tips

Piero is an incredibly hard worker with a meticulous eye for detail and an expert in his field. His professionalism and creativity are just two of the many reasons why he was immediately asked to join the team of ambassadors at SIGEP.

Antonio Losito

Pastry Chef and Gelato Maker

After his studies, Antonio began his career working in renowned patisseries, hotels, and restaurants, such as Iginio Massari’s Patisserie Veneto and the Pierino Penati restaurant, which has a Michelin star. His wealth of experience enabled him to travel and work all around the world. Antonio took part in the TV program on the “Gambero Rosso Channel” with Simone Rugiati in 2017 and joined the IRCA team in 2018.

Tips

Dubbed the 'globetrotting pastry chef', Antonio is one of the ambassadors in the highest demand with patisseries worldwide. Thanks to his extensive experience with modern patisserie and his sunny disposition, Antonio shares the secrets to making traditional Italian desserts and wins everyone over with his delicacies!

Francesco Maggio

Chocolatier and Pastry Chef

IRCA ambassador since 2018, Francesco studied at the Chef Academy in Terni before specializing at the Academy of Italian Master Chocolatiers. Before coming here, Francesco had also worked as a pastry chef in several places, such as Pasticcerie Zamberletti and the National Hotel Rimini.

Tips

A sublime chocolate artist and a massive fan of chocolate art, Francesco transformed his home into a chocolate laboratory, where he experiments with innovative recipes and tests new designs that defy the laws of physics.

Isacco Marrocco

Pastry Chef

After graduating from the Giovanni Falcone Institute in Gallarate, Isacco joined the IRCA team in 2018 and immediately bowled everyone over with his charming personality. In addition to being an IRCA ambassador, he also volunteers at the Amicorum Association in Cassano Magnago.

Tips

Isacco is mad about music, but we all know his biggest passion is Juventus. He even made a dessert in the shape of a shield with the IRCA team and gave it to his idols in person!

Marco Orfei

Gelato Maker

This master Gelato maker has owned one of his hometown’s most popular ice-cream parlours for many years! Once he got his diploma, Marco embarked on his career and soon made his mark on the industry with his creativity and talent. Marco joined the IRCA team in 2017 and became a key member of the Academy’s teaching team.

Tips

Marco actively collaborates on creating new recipes and inventing new flavors for the JOYGELATO range. He loves plays on words and always succeeds in coming up with just the right rhyme for any new product!

Luciano Parinetti

Pastry Chef and Baker

Luciano started out as an apprentice in his family’s “Patisserie Parinetti” patisserie together with his brother Paolo. He joined IRCA in 2009 and works as a technical demonstrator traveling to countries throughout Europe and beyond. Luciano moved to the mass retail branch of the company in 2018 where he works as Ambassador.

Tips

After traveling around the world for work, you would imagine Luciano would take it easy: but as soon as he has a few days off, he is organizing trips or exploring the mountains. He never misses a chance to seek out fresh inspiration for his creations. His 'bread pictures' are real masterpieces!

Stefano Passannante

Pastry Chef and Baker

A master baker with many years of experience teaching how to bake bread and leavened goods at many different national institutes. Stefano is a food technician, demonstrator, and freelancer, as well as a food manager, entrepreneur, and consultant for launching and developing products in major industrial companies.

Tips

Stefano loves taking an unconventional approach to his work and studying alternative and complex methods. He has worked with the research and development team for many years and is the “daddy” of several of the top products in the bakery range.

Oriol Portabella

Pastry Chef

Expert pastry chef , Oriol completed a succession of specialist courses in Barcelona before starting his career in the early 2000s and working with many patisseries. Demonstrator as well as an instructor, Oriol joined IRCA at the beginning of 2015.

Tips

Oriol’s in-depth knowledge of the industry together with his professionalism won over even the most demanding top chefs. He loves experimenting new flavors and recipes with IRCA products and his creations sell like hotcakes every time!

Pierluigi Ridolfi

Chef, Pastry Chef and Baker

A creative chef, pastry chef and baker since 1983, Pierluigi started out as an apprentice in a bakery but his creativity soon saw him change focus to working with patisserie. After years of courses and hard work in several different patisserie kitchens, Pierluigi started teaching these crafts in two hotel management schools and private schools. He joined IRCA in 2018 as a specialist patisserie ambassador.

Tips

Pierluigi is a real aficionado when it comes to pastries and cakes, and is revered by professionals throughout Italy! He loves desserts and technology with a keen eye for the latest product trends, which he has become so enthusiastic about sharing that he is now an influencer on social media. His profiles are always packed with hundreds of photos of his creations!

Luca Salvatori

Pastry Chef and Gelato Maker

Making patisserie is Luca’s lifelong dream; once he got his diploma, he began his career by working as an apprentice in a patisserie in Marina di Massa. That was the genesis of his love story with this craft, which has taken him all over Italy and given him the opportunity to work with chefs of the caliber of Iginio Massari and Stefano Laghi. Luca came to IRCA in 2019 and joined the team of ambassadors.

Tips

Luca loves the world of Viennoiseries and is always experimenting with new ways to combine flavours and colours. He has won awards with Cast Alimenti for his creations and since he joined IRCA everyone has been competing to taste his Viennese pastries!

Mirko Scarani

Pastry Chef

Mirko has always known that he would work in the hotel industry. But his grandmother was a real expert cake baker, and she helped Mirko to realize that patisserie would be his specialty. He completed a series of apprenticeships after graduating from the Giovanni Falcone Institute in Gallarate in 2018, and then joined IRCA.

Tips

Mirko has an innate sensitivity and refinement when it comes to baking and he found a way to put this to good use during his free time as well by volunteering for Italy’s Civil Protection Department. He loves Northern Europe, and invented a themed bonbon that uses the flavor of IRCA chocolate to celebrate the best of Holland!

Federico Vedani

Chocolatier and Pastry Chef

Federico graduated with his professional pastry chef diploma from ALMA where he studied under the famous Chef Gualtiero Marchesi. Following an apprenticeship at Ernst Knamm’s "L'antica Arte del Dolce" and other impressive experiences as a pastry chef, Federico joined the IRCA team in 2017.

Tips

Choco bonbons have always been his passion and his speciality! Federico is our flavor artist and researches surprising pairings that satisfy even the most sophisticated palates.