Malmö's Falafel World Cup on hold after funding delay
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Published: 7 May, 2019 CET.
Updated: Tue 7 May 2019 13:50 CET
The international Falafel World Cup, hosted for the first time in Malmö last year, has been postponed after a long-running tussle over funding with Malmö's city government.
The competition, held last June along with the Malmö Falafel Festival, was a huge success, with the local Sydsvenskan newspaper listing it as one of the 18 best things to happen to the city last year.
Last year's contest was won by Yusef Houji, owner of Copenhagen's Nordisk Falafel, who was one of 15 competitors from across the globe including Japan and the Netherlands.
But the organizers have now had to postpone this year's return festival beyond the planned June 15th date, with co-founder Pierre Orsander telling The Local that although he hopes it will be held this autumn, it may even be pushed into next year.
"Because of our discussions with Malmö Stad there have been delays in our planning and that have left us very short on time," he said.
The city, he said, had also given them less than the 450,000 kronor they were given last year, meaning they would need to supplement the funding.
"We got a budget but we will need more, and it was too short a time to get money elsewhere," he said.
The twin events, which aim to celebrate Malmö's status as Sweden's falafel capital, are the brainchild of Orsander, American food entrepreneur Jonathan Burns, restaurant owner Sadoo Iskandarani, and the renowned Malmö chef Titti Qvarnström.
Orsander said it was important to all four of the founders that the festival was as least as good this year as the inaugural event.
"We're just a bunch of entrepreneurs who wanted this to happen, this is not our daily job. This is a passion project," he said. "So we want it to be something that we're proud of."
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The competition, held last June along with the Malmö Falafel Festival, was a huge success, with the local Sydsvenskan newspaper listing it as one of the 18 best things to happen to the city last year.
Last year's contest was won by Yusef Houji, owner of Copenhagen's Nordisk Falafel, who was one of 15 competitors from across the globe including Japan and the Netherlands.
But the organizers have now had to postpone this year's return festival beyond the planned June 15th date, with co-founder Pierre Orsander telling The Local that although he hopes it will be held this autumn, it may even be pushed into next year.
"Because of our discussions with Malmö Stad there have been delays in our planning and that have left us very short on time," he said.
The city, he said, had also given them less than the 450,000 kronor they were given last year, meaning they would need to supplement the funding.
"We got a budget but we will need more, and it was too short a time to get money elsewhere," he said.
The twin events, which aim to celebrate Malmö's status as Sweden's falafel capital, are the brainchild of Orsander, American food entrepreneur Jonathan Burns, restaurant owner Sadoo Iskandarani, and the renowned Malmö chef Titti Qvarnström.
Orsander said it was important to all four of the founders that the festival was as least as good this year as the inaugural event.
"We're just a bunch of entrepreneurs who wanted this to happen, this is not our daily job. This is a passion project," he said. "So we want it to be something that we're proud of."
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