USA Captures World Cup of Baking for First Time; Jan Schat, Il Fornaio, Leads Artisan Bread Category.

CORTE MADERA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 1999--For the first time in the history of the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (World Cup of Baking), Baking Team USA took first place -- and with it breadmaking's highest honor. France finished second and the Japanese team placed third.

The international competition took place Tuesday in Paris as a part of Europain, the World Bakery Patisserie and Catering Exhibition. The once-every-three-years competition pits three-person teams from 12 countries against one another over eight hours in a trio of categories: baguette and specialty breads, yeasted sweet breads and artistic design.

Baking's highest honor awarded to American team

This year's American team all hail from the San Francisco bay area.

Jan Schat, managing partner of Academia del Fornaio and head baker for Il Fornaio (America) Corp. (Nasdaq:ILFO), anchored the team in the baguette and specialty breads category. During the grueling competition, Schat handmade 90 loaves of bread in eight hours including 50 baguettes and 10 loaves each of four varieties of breads, including potato sourdough, tomato-basil, multigrain and a flat bread made with onion seeds and clarified butter.

Teammate Robert Jorin, an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif., represented the US in sweet breads, making 50 sweets -- 10 copies of five recipes. Thomas Gumpel, another CIA-Greystone teacher, competed in the artistic design category, creating an elaborate, labor-intensive decorative piece. The team shared ingredients, equipment and a 12-foot-square kitchen while being observed by an international jury. Not only are the judges scrutinizing their every move, but more than 75,000 people poured through over the course of the contest.

An American team has entered three of the five competitions ever held. During the last event, in 1996, the team came in fifth place. This year, the Americans had hoped to break into the top three. Baking Team USA's unprecedented victory has rocked the baking world, traditionally dominated by the European teams.