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.

Alessandro Banchetti (Italy), Impiegato azienda energetica – Chocolate taster 1 & 2 livello

Anna Basova (Russia), Glacage

Francesca Bellomo (Italy), Brand Management

Sabino Berardino (Italy), Blogger, i Cento di Firenze – EDT

Anna Blagovidova (Russia), Patissier/Pastry Chef, http://www.shokolaka.ru

Susi Bonomi (Italy), Sommelier

Sandro Bosticco (Italy), www.winesurf.it, Sandro Bosticco

Cecilie Bylin (Denmark), MSc spatial design and society

Christy Chan (Hong Kong), Chocolatey Christy, Chocolatey.Christy

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

Karen Dar Woon (Canada), Your Secret Chef, Owner, Personal Chef

Carla Gambina (Italy), Chocotaster di II Livello

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

Giovanna Gori (Italy), Chocolate Taster / Fotografa

Pierrick Henin (Belgium), Choco-Story Brussels

HSIANGCHUN LI (Taiwan), Taster

Per Liss (Sweden), Chokladakademien, Chokladakademien

Mauro Martelli (Italy), Imprenditore Edile

Stefano Mecatti (Italy), Sommelier, Consultant

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

Ildiko Nemeth (Italy), Catering

Adrienne Newman (United States), Madame Cocoa

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

Rodrigo Rivera Esquivel (Chile), Consultant

Gilda Sandique (Philippines), Chef-Consultant/Lead Trainer

Erin Seidemann (United States), Guggenheim Securities / Supervisory Analyst

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

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

Evgeniya Zaverukha (Russia), Individual Entrepreneur