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

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

Irma Brizi (Italy), Associazione Nazionale Città della Nocciola, direttore Associazione Nazionale Città della Nocciola

Katie Ka Yan Chan (Hong Kong), The Chocolate Club Hong Kong, Founder of The Chocolate Club HK

June Chan (Hong Kong), Clinical Dietitian

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

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

Anjul Dutt (United Kingdom), Food Journalist

Jennifer Earle (United Kingdom), Chocolate Ecstasy Tours, Chocolate Ecstasy Tours

Gian Luca Forino (Italy), Consulente di pasticceria

Mark Fowler (United Kingdom), Formerly Nestle Cocoa and Chocolate R&S Manager

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

David Greenwood-Haigh (United Kingdom), Coeur De Xocolat Ltd, www.coeurdexocolat.com

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

Per Liss (Sweden), Chokladakademien, Chokladakademien

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

Ildiko Nemeth (Italy), Catering

Samantha Ng (Hong Kong), Intellectual Property Legal Counsel – Asia Pacific

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

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

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

Melissa Tung (Hong Kong), Clinical Secretary

Terese Weiss (Denmark), Interpreter / Chocolate Educator

Sze Lok Yung (Hong Kong), Freelance Writer