Judges – Americas 2018
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.
Brady Brelinski (United States), Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Flavors of Cacao
Martin Christy (United Kingdom), Seventy%, Permanent Grand Jury
Scott Craig (United States), DallasFood.org, DallasFood.org
Amy Dubin (United States), Janam Tea, Janam Tea
Natalia Gadjieva (United States), Columbia University
Victor Gelman (United States), EMVI Chocolate Chief pf Production, EmviChocolate.com
George Gensler (United States), Manhattan Chocolate Society, Permanent Grand Jury
Jackie Gordon (United States), Divalicious Inc./Singing Chef
Adrienne Henson (United States), Joys Of Chocolate/also day job at Hotel Chocolat
June Jacobs (United States), Feastivals / President
Jim Koper (United States), Aerospace Engineer, JK Chocolate Truffles
Luanne Koper (United States), Editor
Alexandra Leaf (United States), Manhattan Chocolate Society, Chocolate Tours of New York City
Caroline McDonald (United States), Les Dames D’Escoffier, Managing Director – Strategic Success Group
Monica Meschini (Italy), Chocolate/Tea Taster, Sommelier, Permanent Grand Jury
Ildiko Nemeth (Italy), Catering
Teresa Politano (United States), Writer, Journalist
Maricel Presilla (United States), Chef, Restaurateur, Author, Permanent Grand Jury
Alex Rast (United Kingdom), Consultant, Reviewer, Seventy% , Permanent Grand Jury
Christine Rico (United States), Waste to Wealth Ventures
Ellen Schnepel (United States), Principal, Crik-Crak Chocolate Connections
Michaela Schupp (Partner) (Germany), Chocolats-de-luxe.de GmbH, Permanent Grand Jury
Sourabh Sharma (United States), 3FS Lifestyle, 3FS Lifestyle
Vanessa Milagros Villanueva Bejarano (Peru), Le Cordon Bleu