As part of our commitment to transparency, we publish the names of the judges for each competition. (If judges opt-in for their names to be made public.)

Each competition is judged by a panel of experts, food journalists, sommeliers and pastry chefs, including the names listed below. The competition is overseen by members of our international Grand Jury, who travel to each competition.

We would like to thank our judges for their hard work, including any who chose for their names not to be listed. You can find the full list of winners for this competition in our ‘Rounds & results’ section.

Cat Black (United Kingdom), Food Writer, Food writer

Cecilie Bylin (Denmark), MSc spatial design and society

Salvatore Catapano (Italy), Pasticcere

Adil Chaudry (Netherlands), Chocolatl Amsterdam

Martin Christy (United Kingdom), Seventy%, Permanent Grand Jury

Scott Craig (United States), DallasFood.org, DallasFood.org

Mireille Discher (United Kingdom), F&B Consultant

Cendie Dyekjær-Themsen (Denmark), –

Katrin Flietner (Germany), xocoatl-feine schokoladen/Owner, xocoatl-feine schokoladen

Celine Francis (Belgium), None for time being

George Gensler (United States), Manhattan Chocolate Society, Permanent Grand Jury

Lars Hansen-Damm (Denmark), teSelskabet/Owner

Kathryn Laverack (United Kingdom), Cocoa Encounters, Cocoa Encounters

Jeffrey Lee (Hong Kong), Cult de Choco Ltd. / Director, Cult de Choco

Per Liss (Sweden), Chokladakademien, Chokladakademien

Bostjan Makarovic (United Kingdom), Aphaia

Monica Meschini (Italy), Chocolate/Tea Taster, Sommelier, Permanent Grand Jury

Ilena Minguzzi (Italy), The international institute of chocolate and cacao tasting

Mara Nocilla (Italy), Gambero Rosso

Maricel Presilla (United States), Chef, Restaurateur, Author, Permanent Grand Jury

Alex Rast (United Kingdom), Consultant, Reviewer, Seventy% , Permanent Grand Jury

Kanako Satsutani (Japan), Tomoé Saveur / Fine Chocolate Distributor, Chocolate Expert, Tomoé Saveur

Michaela Schupp (Partner) (Germany), Chocolats-de-luxe.de GmbH, Permanent Grand Jury

Jana Siegl (Czech Republic), Event Coordinator (in a pharmaceutical company)

Svein-Magnus Sørensen (Norway), Founder and Chief Tasting Officer, Sjokoladesmaking.no

Sara Trioni (Italy), Food Copywriter and Communication Consultant

Terese Weiss (Denmark), Interpreter / Chocolate Educator