Surprise Judges Added to Caesarstone Kitchen of the Year Competition

Caesarstone has added two surprise judges to the panel for the illustrious Caesarstone Kitchen of the Year competition.

In a last minute twist, Caesarstone International head product designer, Mor Krisher, and South African celebrity chef, Reuben Riffel, join the existing panel of judges.

“We are excited to be adding new perspectives to our panel,” says Caesarstone South Africa’s marketing director, Trevor King. “Reuben will offer his practical experience gained from cooking professionally in many kitchens, while Mor will bring a cosmopolitan and technical perspective to the team,” King continues.

Mor Krisher’s background in industrial design, his passion for kitchen design and six years with Caesarstone make him a well-placed addition to the judging panel. Mor and his team’s work helps the brand to stay on the cutting edge of Caesarstone’s design and colour palette offerings each year.

His first trip to South Africa, Mor is thrilled to be a part of the competition, “For me the kitchen is a magical place. I am looking for a kitchen where, just by looking at its photograph, you can feel the roughness and smoothness of its materials, and you can smell the steams of the last meal.” Mor continues, “A kitchen should be designed in a way which will bring out the chef that hides in each of us!”

Reuben Riffel was one of the original Caesarstone ambassadors several years ago and continues to use Caesarstone surfaces in his restaurants, “I've worked with Caesarstone over the years and they helped me with fitting out my pastry kitchen. They are a great team of people and Caesarstone is a great product! I'm looking forward to judging this competition especially because I love beautifully and cleverly designed kitchens.” Well known as a MasterChef South Africa judge, this will be Reuben’s first outing as a kitchen design competition adjudicator.

Bradley van den Berg (executive producer of The Expresso Morning Show), Bielle Bellingham (editor of Elle Decoration) and Beth Haynes (two-time former winner of the Caesarstone Kitchen Designer competition), will join the new judging panel additions at the first judging round this week in Cape Town.

Caesarstone Kitchen of the Year finalists will be announced online in late August and showcased on the Caesarstone website. The Home Channel’s insert series covering the competition starts on 22 September.