Our 2021 judging panel
Meet our experts from all over the world
Ben Kolly
Haigh's - Technical & Product Manager
As a qualified Swiss-trained Pastry Chef and Confectioner, Ben began his career working for two well-known patisseries in Zurich and Bern, Switzerland. At age 22, Ben joined Cailler Chocolate in Broc, Switzerland where he learned the industrial way of making chocolate and manufacturing chocolate products. Two years later Ben had the golden opportunity to join Lindt & Sprungli spending three years in Zurich and three years at their facilities in Germany. In 2008 Ben moved to Adelaide to join Haigh’s Chocolates as their Technical and Product Manager leading the company in recipe development and chocolate making from raw cocoa beans and cooking small artisanal style confectionery delights.
Josh & Jacqui Bahen
Bahen & Co - Founders
Bahen & Co makes stone ground chocolate from bean to bar. A traditional approach to chocolate making that returns to a slower pace of a previous time. With former lives as vignerons, Jacqui & Josh Bahen have seeded an understanding that achieving simplicity in chocolate making is harder than complex. Taking a simplistic approach to respect flavour and connect back to the source.
Debb Makin
Ratio - Founder
Not drinking coffee or alcohol, chocolate has always been Debbie's passion. Originally a zoologist then a wedding planner, she has travelled the world sampling chocolate from 50 countries along the way. This passion led to the opening of Ratio in late 2017 to bring ethically sourced chocolate in its most authentic and delicious form to Australia.
Rodney Nikkels
Chocolate Makers - Co-founder
Chocolate Makers is a Dutch bean-to-bar chocolate maker from Amsterdam. Enver Loke and Rodney Nikkels started the company in 2011. Together they search the world for good quality cocoa, working directly with the cocoa farmers. In their own factory, they do everything themselves, from roasting the beans to wrapping the bars. Rodney & Enver are as passionate about ethics and sustainability as they are about the chocolate itself. Chocolatemakers use only organic ingredients, and work directly to improve the environment. Their goal is to make the entire chain more sustainable.
Gabe Davidson & Rochelle Harrison
Wellington Chocolate Factory - Co-founders
Organic, sustainable, and contributing to a better world, Wellington Chocolate Factory sources only the highest quality beans from ethical suppliers. They are supporting local farmers, ensuring fair trade and creating a better world, one bean at a time. Safe to say, it’s a firm local favourite. WCF was the first craft bean-to-bar factory to open its doors here in New Zealand, and they now produce the only certified organic chocolate made in New Zealand. WCF is constantly pushing the boundaries of chocolate innovation while creating and celebrating art in every step of what we do.
Ethan Swift
Island Sharks - Co-founder
Ethan Swift started judging cacao beans for the Big Island Chocolate Festival and reviewing cocoa for Hawaii Chocolate Review, while starting up Hawaii’s only independent, black and disabled owned Hawaiian Chocolate company. After half a decade of experience in South Pacific cacao, cocoa and chocolate. He is publishing his first book on Chocolate tasting titled “The Bean to Bar Chocolate Tasting Guide”, look for him and even his cacao ceremony at Hawaii Cacao Ceremonies, performing rituals with cacao in over 9 countries has also provided him with ancestral and sacred cacao guidance.
Patrick Morand & Ludovic Pannier
Co-founders
Twenty years ago, Patrick Morand moved to New Caledonia, where he founded Chocolats Morand, a boutique dedicated to chocolate, patisserie and all sorts of delicious desserts. Originally from Normandy, Patrick trained in Rouen and worked at Maison Pillon in Toulouse, in Switzerland and the USA.
He was joined in 2014 by Ludovic Pannier, Compagnon du Tour de France, who worked for some of the best patisseries.
Together, they welcome you in their boutique in the Quartier Latin where you can observe their team making edible art.
Julie Dang
Founder
Founder of Forêt des Rêves Bleus in New Caledonia, Julie is a farmer, chocolate artisan, and pastry chef. In 2014, after fifteen years in the mining sector, Julie decided to change career and move to pastry and chocolate, her childhood passions. After receiving training in Melbourne (Australia) and Paris (France), Julie decided to work exclusively with local products with social impact from her island and the Pacific islands.
Albert Smith
Founder
Crafting Markets is an Amsterdam, Netherlands-based importer and distributor of high-quality cocoa beans and derivative products. They source primarily from smallholder farmers, cooperatives, and social enterprises that have a very high standard for quality, people, and the environment. Consistent high quality is one of the main ingredients for a sustainable value chain, from producer to the end consumer. They work with many award-winning producers and craft chocolate makers throughout the world.