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.

Lauren Adler (United States), Chocolopolis/Pacific Northwest Chocolate Society, Chocolopolis

Susan Aylard (Canada), unemployed

Patricia Baker (United States), Property Management

Mary Baumann (United States), WSET Certified Wine Educator, Nose in the Glass

Romi Burks (United States), Southwestern University Professor, ProfRomi

Jocie Bussin (Canada), Restaurant with chef training

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

Cyndi Clement (Canada), Self Employed – Artist – Dental Assistant, Canadian Chocoholic

Victoria Cooksey (United States), Craft Chocolate reviewer, writer, blogger, YouTuber, Dark Matters Chocolate Reviews

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

Moises Davidovits (Venezuela), First Foods Group / Consultant

Pashmina De Shon (United States), Bar & Cocoa, CEO, Bar & Cocoa

Ale Gambini (United States), A Queen in the Kitchen

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

Earnie Glazener (United States), Independent, Instagram reviews (please note the website link & name may change before competition completion)

Bob Goldfarb (United States), Cocoazoo

E.B. Harper (United States), Diplomat

Sally Hildebrandt (Canada), Centennial College Professor of Baking & Pastry Arts Management, http://www.youtube.com/c/BiteandChiu

Michelle Hoang (United States), Chocolopolis

Nadine Kerstan (United States), Artisan Nutrition / Holistic Health Coach / Mindful Chocolate Tastings, Nadine Kerstan

Jim Koper (United States), Aerospace Engineer, JK Chocolate Truffles

Alexandra Leaf (United States), Manhattan Chocolate Society, Chocolate Tours of New York City

Genevieve Leloup (United States), Chocomotions- Chocolate Education, chocomotions

Kim LeVine (United States), Chocolate Noise, Chocolate Noise

Shirley Lum (Canada), S Chocolate Magic

Mary Luz Mejia (Canada), Food Writer, Content Marketer and Level II Chocolate Taster, Online Portfolio

Adele Miller (United States), (Formerly: Sales Associate At Chocolopolis for 4 year) Security Innovation / Security Engineer

Adrienne Newman (United States), Madame Cocoa

Thong Nguyen (United States), Self-employed / Consultant

Teresa Politano (United States), Writer, Journalist

Mariana Ponce de León (Uruguay), Independent Patissier and Cake Designer

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

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

Evelyn Reilly (United States), Distinguished Beans, Distinguished Beans

karla schade (United States), Opening Chocolate

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

Ella Selfridge Panther (United States), Chocolate Consultant, Chocolate Retail Store

Amy Singh (United States), Student

Maya Townsend (United States), Partnering Resources, Partnering Resources

Barbie Van Horn (United States), Finding Fine Chocolate, Finding Fine Chocolate

Daniela Vásquez Villegas (Costa Rica), Food Science student

Shenin Yazdanian (Canada), Centennial College

Michelle Zimmerman (United States), Curating Taste