Emili Feliu from the Forn Sant Josep bakery wins the Pa d’Or award as Catalonia’s best baker
The baker from this bakery in L’Eixample was recognised from among the best-rated 25 professionals as part of the competition organised by Panàtics and the Obra Social Ernest Verdaguer.
The baker Emili Feliu from the Forn Sant Josep bakery in Barcelona has won the Pa d’Or 2025 award, the highest distinction in the competition between the 25 best-rated bakers in Catalonia. The event is organised by the Obra Social Ernest Verdaguer, promoted by the Panàtics platform, and this year comes within the context of Catalonia’s role as the World Gastronomy Region 2025.
Four territorial editions have been held over the year (in Lleida, Tarragona, Girona and Barcelona), where a jury of experts have assessed all the types of loaves presented with blind tastings. Each loaf is given a score between 1 and 10 with criteria such as quality, technique, texture, taste, shape, base, crust and presentation.
The bakers with the best scores made up the final of the best-rated 25 in the country. The four with the highest overall scores were invited to a face-to-face final where they made their loaves live before the jury. A blind former baker also too part in this latest edition, offering a different and complementary sensory perception.
The jury’s final decision gave the golden bread award to Emili Feliu (Barcelona), the silver award to Jordi Martí (Lleida) and the bronze award, shared, to Óscar Cazorla (Forn Prades) and Felipe García (Casa Monner, Girona). The event coincided with the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Obra Social Ernest Vergaduer, with an emotive tribute to those that made this solidarity project possible.
With this edition, the award is consolidated as one of the most important in Catalan bread-making, highlighting the devotion, tradition and innovation in the sector.