Thai sapodilla ice cream scoops top prize at Gourmand Awards 2025

Fruit once left to rot now wins world’s top dessert

The Thai food industry once again proved its potential on the international stage, with a sapodilla ice cream winning a top prize at the Gourmand Awards 2025.

The deputy spokesperson of the Prime Minister’s Office, Sasikan Wattanachan, announced today, July 3, that the Thai government would like to extend its congratulations to Watsarapong Radomsitthipat after his sapodilla ice cream brought global recognition to Thailand, in line with the country’s Soft Power strategy.

Watsarapong is a former mayor of Ban Mai sub-district, Maha Rat district, Ayutthaya province, a leading source of sapodillas. He developed the award-winning dessert to increase the value of the fruit, which is typically sold for only 5 to 10 baht per kilogramme.

Due to poor market demand, local farmers have long struggled to sell their produce and often resorted to letting the fruit rot or cutting down sapodilla trees in favour of more profitable crops.

In response, Watsarapong innovated a refreshing ice cream using sapodilla as the key ingredient. His dual aim was to preserve the underappreciated fruit and boost its economic value.

He named the dessert 100-year sapodilla ice cream, which quickly became a must-try treat for both local and international tourists visiting Ayutthaya.

Thai sapodilla ice cream in Gourmand Awards 2025
Photo via Facebook/ นายกอุ๊ วัชรพงศ์ ระดมสิทธิพัฒน์

Recently, the dessert achieved national acclaim on the global stage at the Gourmand Awards 2025, dubbed the Oscars of the food world, held in Lisbon, Portugal. Watsarapong and his team also attended the event to receive the reward themselves.

“I feel proud to bring home the world’s number one award for sapodilla ice cream, once a fruit people saw as worthless,” said Watsarapong.

sapodilla ice cream from Ayutthaya praised with international award
Photo via Facebook/ นายกอุ๊ วัชรพงศ์ ระดมสิทธิพัฒน์

Sasikan emphasised that the recognition reflects the enormous potential of Thai community products in penetrating the global food industry. She noted that the success serves as a model for using soft power to uplift Thailand’s grassroots economy.

Those wishing to sample the award-winning 100-Year Sapodilla Ice Cream can do so at Thong Keeb Ma Café, located inside Luang Pu Thuat Market on the Asian Highway in Ban Mai sub-district, Maha Rat district, Ayutthaya.

Thai ice cream win international award
Photo via Facebook/ The Artisans Ayutthaya อาร์ทิซานส์

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Petch Petpailin

Petpailin, or Petch, is a Thai translator and writer for The Thaiger who focuses on translating breakingThai news stories into English. With a background in field journalism, Petch brings several years of experience to the English News desk at The Thaiger. Before joining The Thaiger, Petch worked as a content writer for several known blogging sites in Bangkok, including Happio and The Smart Local. Her articles have been syndicated by many big publishers in Thailand and internationally, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Bangkok Post. She is a news writer who stops reading news on the weekends to spend more time cafe hopping and petting dwarf shrimp! But during office hours, you can find Petch on LinkedIn and you can reach her by email at petch@thethaiger.com.
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