The BAA Australian baking team placed third at Italy’s Sigep Bread Cup in Italy.

Team captain James Saunders was joined by Tim Modra, Jana Ludwig and Shayne Greenman to finish a very close third place behind winning team Israel and runner-up Germany.

“We again showed continuing consistency following our third placing in 2011,” James said.

“The standard has again improved on the previous year and our team lifted accordingly [and] performed extremely well.”

The team placed first with its bread showpiece, second with its baked dessert, third place in ‘healthy’ bread and fifth place with traditional bread. The Australians, easily recognisable in their Akubra hats, shared a friendly spirit by sharing raw materials, equipment and ‘recipe secrets’ with their competitiors.

The competition took place at the 33rd international exhibition for the artisan production of gelato, pastry, confectionary and bakery in Rimini. The event saw record-breaking figures, with 122,697 visitors over five exhibiting days, an increase of 15 per cent on 2011.

Francesco Boccia from Stigliano, Naples, was crowned the new Italian Senior Pastry Champion. The title was contended until the final ballot by his younger brother Marcello, with both winning a spot representing Italy at the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie in Lyon in 2013.