Judges – World Final 2016
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.
Thorald Abramowski (Germany), thorsoft / mixed-pixel
Carol Barnshaw (United Kingdom), amateur chocolate taster
Cat Black (United Kingdom), Food Writer, Food writer
Deborah Bonetti (Italy), Il Giorno
Romi Burks (United States), Southwestern University Professor, ProfRomi
Marie-Blanche Camps (United Kingdom), L’ECHO Magazine / Editor, L’ECHO Magazine
Ana Maria Catuneanu (United Kingdom), MD- Clincal and Research Fellow in Gastroenterology, Oxford University Hospitals
Tracy Chapman (United Kingdom), Chocolate Voyage
Martin Christy (United Kingdom), Seventy%, Permanent Grand Jury
Mireille Discher (United Kingdom), F&B Consultant
Estela Duque (United Kingdom), Founder, Moulinet Chocolat Limited
Anjul Dutt (United Kingdom), Food Journalist
Jennifer Earle (United Kingdom), Chocolate Ecstasy Tours, Chocolate Ecstasy Tours
Esther Garcia Gonzalez (United Kingdom), University of Oxford/Scientist
George Gensler (United States), Manhattan Chocolate Society, Permanent Grand Jury
Nancy Gilchrist (United Kingdom), Master of Wine
Raquel Gonzalez Setien (Norway), Privado
Giovanna Gori (Italy), Chocolate Taster / Fotografa
Barry Johnson (United Kingdom), Chocolatier and Pastry Chef – Owner of The Cocoa Lab, Lecturer at The National Bakery School & Home Chocolate Factory
Jeffrey Lee (Hong Kong), Cult de Choco Ltd. / Director, Cult de Choco
Judith Lewis (United Kingdom), Mostly About Chocolate, Mostly About Chocolate
Jenny Linford (United Kingdom), Food Writer
Per Liss (Sweden), Chokladakademien, Chokladakademien
Bostjan Makarovic (United Kingdom), Aphaia
Janette Marshall (United Kingdom), freelance writer
Bruce McMichael (United Kingdom), The Lemon Grove/ food and drink writer, The Lemon Grove
Monica Meschini (Italy), Chocolate/Tea Taster, Wine Sommelier, Permanent Grand Jury
Jackie Mitchell (United Kingdom), Freelance Journalist, www.jackiemwriting.com
Dipak Nayar (United Kingdom), Craft beer
Chris Osburn (United Kingdom), Freelance journalist, tikichris
Alessandro Palozzo (Italy), Agricultural WO
Marianne Parry (United Kingdom), Chocolate Enthususiast, Doctor, Artist
Zoe Perrett (United Kingdom), Food writer
Steven Pierce (United Kingdom), Food writer
Teresa Politano (United States), Writer, Journalist
Almudena Ponce de León Riaño (United Kingdom), Independent
Maricel Presilla (United States), Chef, Restaurateur, Author, Permanent Grand Jury
Alex Rast (United Kingdom), Consultant, Reviewer, Seventy% , Permanent Grand Jury
Michaela Schupp (Judge) (Germany), Chocolats-de-luxe.de, Chocolats-de-luxe.de
Rachel Sellers (United Kingdom), Marketing
Sarah Shattuck (United Kingdom), Fortnum & Mason, Assistant Chocolate Buyer
Alex Shebar (United Kingdom), City Director of Yelp in London, Yelp
Katie Smith (United Kingdom), Editor at Confectionery Production magazine, Confectionery Production
Felicity Spector (United Kingdom), chief writer, Channel 4 News
Vishella Tews (United Kingdom), Seventy%
Terese Weiss (Denmark), Interpreter / Chocolate Educator
Sela Yair (United Kingdom), chocolatewalks, London Chocolate Meetup