Armonia "Craft Beer & Food Pairing" European Competition is open to all craft breweries based in Europe and consists of various stages of judging. It's an innovative evolution with an international flavour, focusing on the quality of beers, but above all on food pairings and beer-based food preparations within the food service industry. In his presentation of Armonia “The beer in the plate” at Exp
o Milano 2015 last October Andrea Zanlari, president of the Armonia competition and Parma Chamber of Commerce summed up as follows: "the concept of harmony is as important in food as it is in life. Harmony derives from the comparison which is also growth and improvement". A panel of Italian and European judges will be personally selected by Lorenzo Kuaska Dabove, technical director of the competition. The judging panels set up across Italy and Europe will decide which beers enter the final, where a select panel of international judges will pick the winners of the ARMONIA BEER Trophy 2016. All formal procedures, anonymous candidature of individual samples and operative procedures will be guaranteed by a notary. A group of top European chefs will furthermore assess and assign the ARMONIA Beer in the Plate Award to the best dishes created and prepared with the winning beers by young chefs and foodies during the first stages of selection. A judging panel consisting of designers, communications experts and journalists will evaluate the communicative and graphic impact of the label and bottle for assignment of the Packaging & Design Award. The Competitions will also see consumers involved in a People's Choice judging panel which will assess beers paired with various dishes and food products, also tasted and voted for by representatives of foodies and enthusiasts for assignment of the People's Choice Award. All in all, it's a decidedly well-structured competition which also stands apart from other national and international competitions that only judge beer quality. The final stages of the Competition and award ceremony will take place at Parma Chamber of Commerce in May 2016.
