Lauraine Jacobs, Head Judge
Internationally respected food writer, author and editor of nine cookbooks Lauraine Jacobs heads the judging panel. She is a Past President of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) and Food Writers NZ and a regular speaker and contributor on New Zealand food and wine.
Lucy Corry
Lucy Corry is a Wellington-based journalist, food writer and communications consultant. She loves to cook, eat, read and write about food and the people who make it and as such is ideally qualified to contribute to judging New Zealand’s most outstanding food producer. Lucy contributes to NZ Life & Leisure.
Richard Emerson
Years ago, a young Richard Emerson sent a postcard back from his OE telling how he would set up a brewpub in Dunedin one day, inspired by those he found whilst travelling. His passion for craft beer is only matched by his passion for food, and for the joy of finding a perfect pairing of beer and food! Richard’s dream was kept alive during all his years’ brewing, and his partnership with Lion in 2012 helped to speed up bringing this dream to fruition. On the 4th of July 2016, Emerson’s Brewery & Taproom opened at 70 Anzac Ave, a stone’s throw from Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Allyson Gofton
Allyson Gofton is a beloved cook who really knows how to make Kiwis’ mouths water.
She has cooking for New Zealanders for over 20 years and was the popular face of televisions Food in a minute for over a decade. She has written more than 20 cookbooks, including her best-selling series of books Bake and Cook and Slow,
She is passionate about promoting great New Zealand produce and has a vast knowledge of food and nutrition. This is her second year as a judge for the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards.
Amanda Thompson
Amanda is passionate about food, ingredients and NZ producers. As General Manager at Moore Wilsons, she oversees all departments from the Fresh Market and Foodservice, through to Wine, Beers and Spirits and Kitchen, Homewares and Toys. Amanda works closely with the category managers and the Moore family who have just celebrated 100 years in the grocery trade. Having joined Moore Wilsons over 20 years ago in the Fresh Market when it first opened, she continues to be inspired by local and international food trends and products, always on the hunt to bring the best products to their hospitality and retail customers.
Andy Aitken
A native Dunedinite, Andy has completed the circuit of working in Wellington and Melbourne later returning home to Dunedin. In Melbourne, he truly learnt his trade (and his trademark tea towel whip) working at Michelin-rated Lynches and Di Stasio’s. After returning home to Dunedin, Andy was Head Chef at Scotia for 5 and a half years and Sous Chef at No 7 for 3 years and owned Mash for 12 years. His incredible passion for food and fondness for the odd pint of Emersons also made him top of the list for Head Chef when the Emersons Taproom was established. In his tiny amount of spare time, between work and looking after his four gorgeous kids, he enjoys knitting spare beard hair into socks for homeless puppies.
James Thomas
James Thomas is the managing director of New Zealand Cheese Ltd which specialise in supplying independently made cheese from around New Zealand, to food service, delicatessens and overseas markets. After studying science at University he began his career as a maker in Switzerland in 2012, then worked in Holland, Norway and France. He spent two seasons making under Albert Alferink at Mercer Cheese while completing the NZ Cheesemaster program before two years in London in the role of Assistant Manager of the Wholesale department of La Fromagerie.
Michelle Johns
Michelle has a passion for exploring new places, connecting with local people, their culture and food. She launched The Foodie Inc blog to share her love of New Zealand food, wine and places to go, after commencing her Masters and photographing a cookbook. Michelle brings extensive marketing, communications and content generation experience across a broad range of industries from hospitality to retail and financial services. She graduated with a Le Cordon Bleu Master of Gastronomic Tourism in November 2018. Michelle is President of Food Writers NZ.
Mat McLean
Mat McLean is Head Chef and Owner of Hamilton’s Palate Restaurant. He has won numerous awards including Best Regional Restaurant in the Cuisine Restaurant of the Year Awards (2011 and 2012). He is a great supporter of artisan producers in the Waikato and committed to cooking with fresh seasonal, local produce. Mat is regarded as one of this country’s best red meat chefs and is a lifetime Platinum Beef & Lamb New Zealand Ambassador.
Lynda Hallinan
Former NZ Gardener editor, author, broadcaster, amateur home-brewer, pickler, preserver, part-time farmer, occasional farmers’ market stall holder and mad-keen gardener, Lynda Hallinan is joining the judging panel for the first time in 2020.
Kathy Paterson
Kathy Paterson’s career spans Cordon Bleu teaching in London and New Zealand, running her own successful catering business and co-authoring cookbooks. Kathy is a food writer and food stylist for the New Zealand Herald Bite Magazine and the New Zealand Beef + Lamb Magazine. Kathy is Immediate Past President of Food Writers NZ.
Aaron Pooch
An engineer by profession, Aaron has spent the last 11 years judging food and dairy in New Zealand and recently in Australia too. He loves judging is passions, cheese and ice cream. In the engineering field, he has 21 years working in the New Zealand, Australian, American and Irish dairy and food industries. He splits his working time between Waikato, New Zealand and Victoria, Australia where he loves to eat and drink (too much) and takes a great interest in new and novel foods. Aaron can often be found trout fishing and hunting in the North Island wilderness. He catches and processes everything himself with care and respect for the animal and its environment.
Alice Neville
Alice Neville is a journalist whose focus in life, and work, is eating and drinking. She currently edits The Spinoff’s food section, as well as doing freelance work for the likes of Kia Ora and Metro, and is a former deputy editor of Cuisine. She has been on the judging panels of the Cuisine Good Food Awards and Cuisine Artisan Awards, as well as Metro's Restaurant of the Year, Top 50 Cafes and Top 50 Bars. She was named best journalist in the Home & Food category at the 2017 Magazine Media Awards, and at the 2019 NZ Food Media Awards (The Foodies), won best food broadcast for Dietary Requirements, The Spinoff podcast she co-hosts with Simon Day and Sophie Gilmour, as well as being named joint best feature writer.
Suzanne Sparrow
Suzanne started her career as a chef, before moving to boutique corporate catering. She joined Farro in 2006 when the first store opened. Since then Suzanne has been part of the business, helping it grow to five stores across Auckland. As Grocery and Homeware Category Manager she has a diverse portfolio from basic pantry staples to unique culinary ingredients and a wide range of small artisan products. Working with artisan suppliers keeps Suzanne inspired, she’s always on the search for the next winning item to add looking for products that have a unique story, origin, taste, packaging and a point of difference.
Anna King Shahab
Auckland-based freelance food and travel writer Anna King Shahab is a frequent contributor to titles such as the New Zealand Herald, Cuisine, Metro, and Toast, and over the past decade has sat on the judging panels some of the country’s most prestigious culinary awards programmes.
Fiona Stephenson – specialist sustainability judge
Fiona leads communications for the Sustainable Business Network, New Zealand’s largest sustainable business organisation. She is one of the country’s most experienced communicators of sustainability and has worked with organisations of all sizes on sustainability for more than 20 years. She has led PR and communications for the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards, that includes a food category, since 2012. Fiona has Honours and Masters degrees from the University of Cambridge, the latter in Environment & Development. She previously wrote speeches for the UK Government’s chief sustainability advisor.
Shaun Clouston
Executive Chef and Partner of Wellingtons’ Logan Brown Restaurant since 2006 and of Grill Meats Beer since 2014. Executive Chef of Bellamy’s by Logan Brown located in the New Zealand Parliament buildings. Consultant chef to Te Papa, National Museum of New Zealand. Shaun’s philosophy on food and cooking is to serve the taste and flavours of New Zealand using the best local and seasonal ingredients. All of this adds up to confirm Shaun is well qualified to be part of the 2020 judging panel.
Holly Leach – Specialist Sustainability Judge
After completing an undergraduate degree in Food Science, Holly went on to do a Masters in Sustainable Business. She is passionate about food and helping create a sustainable food system for all. She works at the Sustainable Business Network in the Projects and Advisory team. Holly leads the SBN’s food related work including the Good Food Boost mentoring programme and Wellington Food Forums. She has a particular interest in organics, regenerative farming, reducing food waste, urban food systems and traditional maori kai systems.