Sri Kumaran Children’s Home School bags top honours at Del Monte Quest’Italia

New Delhi : Did you know which popular item – used in Italian restaurants and bars worldwide – was invented by Achille Gaggia in 1937? Answers to some of such interesting questions kept the participants of Del Monte Quest’Italia 2012, glued to their seats during the Grand Finale. Organised by Del Monte, India’s leading processed food and beverages brand, the annual event focused on Italy, its cuisine and culture. Quest’Italia is the largest nationwide series of inter-school quiz contests in India. Successfully executed over a period of 2 months across online and on-ground platforms, the contest received participation from over 3 million students from different parts of the country. The winners of respective City Finales competed for the coveted award.

Speaking about the initiative, Yogesh Bellani, COO, FieldFresh Foods Pvt. Ltd. said, “Children are the lead influencers in deciding snack and meal options to break food-fatigue at home.  While the preference for various alternate cuisines is rising in India, parents are actively looking for healthier options. Through Quest’Italia, an edutainment initiative, Del Monte is innovatively engaging with these young potential consumers and enhancing their knowledge about Italian cuisine by sharing interesting insights and tantalizing their taste buds. We are delighted with the participants’ enthusiasm and incredible response for the Italian cuisine.”

The Delhi City round of Del Monte Quest’Italia 2012 built up the platform for the Grand Finale. The city saw participation from 64 schools in Delhi. Amid the nervousness and anticipation of participants Del Monte chefs brought about excitement and good cheer by dishing out lip smacking Italian snacks. At the end of the quiz, a delicious and nutritious Italian meal was served to the participants by Del Monte giving everybody a flavour of authentic Italian cuisine.

The following 8 city-level winners contested for the ultimate title at the Grand Finale in Delhi.

Pune:                          Pranav Gokhale and Aditya Palnitkar from Abasaheb Garware Junior College

Ahmedabad:                Jalaj Maheshwari and Drishti Shah   from St. Kabir’s School

Kolkata:                      Arnnavha Chanda and Yashvardhan Thirani from Delhi Public School, Ruby Park

Chandigarh:                 Aakash Zutshi and Prakhar Saini from The Asian School, Dehradun

Mumbai:                      Chinmay Hejmadi and Rishab Verma from Jasudben M.L School, Khar West, Bandra

Chennai:                      Sangeetha R and Nanditha Venkatesan from DAV Girls School, Gopalpuram

Bangalore:                   Athith K and Piyush Kuthethoor from Sri Kumaran Children’s Home

Delhi:                          Sowmya Sharma and Rahul Chowdhary from Amity International School, Saket

The finale saw stiff competition among the best brains from around the country. Quizmaster Kunal Savarkar/ Adittya Nath Mubayi engaged the students in heated debate by posing challenging questions. The questions varied from Italian food to other important aspects like custom, tradition, fine arts, literature, architecture, design, cinema, fashion, business and much more.

The keenly fought finale for the title of the Del Monte Quest’Italia was won by team Athith K and Piyush Kuthethoor from Sri Kumaran Children’s Home, Bangalore.