This year’s panel of judges for the Young Cheesemonger of the Year Finals, taking place at the World Cheese Awards in Portugal, are all experts from across the industry. We would like to thank Nick Bayne from The Fine Cheese Co., Mathew Carver from The Cheese Bar, Keith Kendrick from Good Food and Sarah Miness from Waitrose for their time and passion in finding this year’s Young Cheesemonger of the Year. Let’s meet the judges.
Head Cheesemonger, The Fine Cheese Co., Bath
Founder, The Cheese Bar, London
Group Magazines Editor, Good Food & Olive
Buyer, Speciality Cheese & Cheese Counters, Waitrose & Partners
Head Cheesemonger, The Fine Cheese Co., Bath
Nick Bayne is the reigning bronze medallist of the Concours Mondial du Meilleur Fromager, and was champion of the Cheesemonger Invitational in Summer 2015.
He began working for The Fine Cheese Co. after moving to the United Kingdom in early 2018, and now leads the cheese team at their iconic Bath shop, helping to select and source the artisan cheeses they import from Europe.
Nick’s previous work has included positions in New York with Bedford Cheese Shop, Dean & Deluca, Mekelburg’s, Foster Sundry, and as the USA External Educator for Le Gruyère AOP. He was also a primary contributor for both Cheeserank.com and Taste of France, and maintains a popular cheese-focused Instagram account as @thecheesemason.
A member of the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers, he has a passion for late-stage affinage, and proudly helped The Fine Cheese Co. win Best Washed Rind and People’s Choice at the 2024 Affineur of the Year.
Founder, The Cheese Bar, London
Mathew Carver founded The Cheese Truck in 2014, selling grilled cheese sandwiches to festival goers at Glastonbury Festival from a bright yellow 1970’s Bedford ice cream van.
He has gone on to become a well-respected and vocal advocate for British cheese, opening three cheese restaurants in London – The Cheese Bar, The Cheese Barge and the world’s first conveyor belt of cheese at Pick & Cheese, as well as his latest restaurant, Rind, at The Courtyard Dairy in Yorkshire.
He also judges at the World Cheese Awards, British Cheese Awards and Affineur of the Year and recently published his first book The Cheese Life.
Group Magazines Editor, Good Food & Olive, International Cheese Judge
A passionate turophile, Keith is a judge for the World Cheese Awards, Artisan Cheese Awards and Virtual Cheese Awards and an Associate of the Academy of Cheese. He spent his early career working for evening newspapers, reporting on everything from local council meetings to the first Gulf War, before editing magazines as diverse as women’s interests, men’s lifestyle and television.
In 2010, he swapped roles with his wife and became a housedad to their three children, cooking all day, every day, which inspired him to write a food blog.
This led to him becoming Group Magazines Editor of Good Food and its sister titles. Every year, he compiles a review of 20+ cheese hampers for the Good Food website and has a dedicated cheese fridge especially for the purpose (despite his wife’s objections).
Buyer, Speciality Cheese & Cheese Counters, Waitrose & Partners
With a wealth of experience in buying and product development, Sarah has been a Buyer for Waitrose for the past nine years, and in 2021 she joined the Dairy Team as a Cheese Buyer. Sarah is currently the buyer for Waitrose’s Speciality, Ingredient and Christmas Cheese range; this includes the world-class Waitrose No 1 cheeses and those sold on its 221 cheese counters, which are sourced from 14 different countries across the globe and from all corners of the British Isles.
Having successfully gained the Academy of Cheese Level One & Level Two Certifications, Sarah is 75% towards completing Level Three.
She has judged at the World, International, Global, British and Virtual Cheese Awards and, earlier this year, Sarah was inducted as a Member of the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers.
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