I am Juan Manuel
Alfonso Rodríguez

Argentine Panettone Champion 2021.

World Champion for the PWC 2023 Journalism Jury.

Best Foreign Panettone PWC 2021.

2nd Chocottone of the World PWC 2023.

3rd Salted Panettone in the World PWC 2023.

3rd in the World in all PWC 2023 Categories.

I am 3rd generation of pastry chefs and bakers

Grandson and son of immigrants. Both grandparents from my mother side opened with a partner their first bakery in La Boca neighborhood in 1957. One block away from the famous “Caminito” street!

They worked very hard until the 1980s when they bought Confitería Artiaga with no partners, as they always wanted. A bakery in Saavedra neighborhood which already existed since 1931.

Year after year the bakery got recognized, making more variety of products, enlarging the work team and generating a beautiful symbiosis with customers and neighborhood.

Everyone became one big family. My brothers and I grew up in that environment, working hard and with a constant desire of improving ourselves for decades which was passed from generation to generation!

You can see more of this beautiful story in our mini series on YouTube.

Go to our Youtube Channel

My Experience

While I was finishing my university studies (I have an administration degree) I studied in different pastry and bakery schools. At the same time I was working in the bakery and becoming more and more convinced that I liked what I was doing and wanted to achieve something greater from my profession.

I have always been interested in ecology, the main reason why I began to learn about raw materials, get involved by looking for and going to visit suppliers. Also see where they work, what is the philosophy of their team work, how it is done and under what responsibility and care they work. That was where our challenge of being the first bakery in the country to use certified organic raw materials began, where there is no use of preservatives, colorants, stabilizers, insecticides, pesticides, fertilizers, genetic modification in cereals, animal abuse (such as forced plucking, cages and so on in laying hens) and much more. Being Argentina the 2nd world producer in quantity of certified organic hectares it sounded like an easy task. But it wasn’t and it is still not, since most of it is exported.

Thus began a challenge that became a long search path that has been going on for years and we are still going through it. Now we are part of MAPO (Argentine Movement for Organic Production) ready for new challenges and with more energy than ever.

Little by little I was finding national producers large and small, committed to their objectives, who sell both abroad and within the country. People who love what they do and are responsible for what they produce and that is why that extra ingredient is very notable in what they make. Achieving natural flavors and meticulously cared products. This adds a lot to us and ADDING, is for all of us at Artiaga, a KEY word!

Recycling is also something that I installed in Artiaga and still is in constant
improvement. We work on our waste, but also with suppliers, thinking about alternatives to plastic in what they provide us.

This is Artiaga, a great chain of participants committed to what we do, so that YOU can enjoy our products.

Panettone

I personally enjoy working with doughs and fermentations of all kinds. And products like Christmas Sweet Bread, Panettone, and Easter Thread are my favorites to make.

Regarding Panettone I achieved the first place in Argentina, being the Argentine Panettone Champion in 2021 and qualifying to the semifinal of the “Panettone World Championship – PWC) in Parma, Italy along other 35 competitors from different countries. I passed the semis and reached the final of the World Cup, in the city of Milan, Italy being among the 3 best countries in the world, and getting an Honorable Mention for Best Foreing Panettone, in the Final of the Panettone World Championship, Milan 2021. It is a difficult product, that needs lots of time and patience, but it is fantastic!

Panettone is something that I am passionate about making and that is why I made a special masterclass to share it with you. If you want to find out more about it, I leave you the link below.

Masterclass JuanMar - Panettone en Casa - Artiaga

Go to my Marterclass

But this does not end here. My curiosity now leads me to a new challenge which is to think about the food of the "future" to build a more nutritious bakery. The use of alternative flours such as different legumes, which provide a stronger nutritional base, without changing the essence of the product that is made with them. Alternative ingredients, healthier, 100% certified organic, more nutritious and that together, they make something incredibly rich and tasty while caring our environment.