World Cup Floral Art: Meet the Jury

No floristry competition can function without the expert input of a seasoned panel of judges, all highly trained and experienced in the world of professional floristry. Six judges, from across Europe, have been selected to form the Jury for the World Cup of Floral Art.

The aim of the Jury is to be fair and objective in their deliberations, treating all competitors equally in the quest to find a worthy and deserving World Champion.

During the competition, participants will face a series of themed tasks, each requiring the creation of unique pieces of floral art. Upon completion, every design will be showcased in a dedicated space within the competition display area, corresponding to the specific task.

How does the Jury work?

• Evaluates and scores each competitors' work.

• Evaluates 4 out of 6 works in blind judging.

• Follows fixed evaluation criteria with numerous sub-criteria.

• Uses the FLORINT 100-point system.

• Determines the weighting factors in advance.

• Does not know the scores of the other jury members.

• Consists exclusively of experienced, certified judges.

• Is supervised by the Jury President.

The Jury President is Thomas Ratschker from Germany

Thomas Ratschker started his floristry career as a co-owner of two flower shops. After completing his training as a German Florist Meister, Thomas Ratschker taught design, practice, botany and economics at various German vocational schools. He is also an international instructor in floristry. For more than 20 years, Thomas has appeared as a jury member and chairman in various national and international competitions. In 2015, he served on the Technical Committee at the Fleurop-Interflora World Cup in Berlin. He is a member of the Assessment Committee on Judge Certification, a worldwide auditor of Judge Certification Assessments and Jury President for Florint. In 2015 and 2017, Thomas participated in the World Skills in Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi as an expert in Floristry for Germany. He is also part of the board of education in Floristry for his homeland.

Members of the Jury

Gil Boyard, France Dr. Jiří Martinek, Czech Republic Tiina Räihä, Finland

Max van de Sluis, The Netherlands Marios Vallianos, Greece

In addition to the Jury, every professional floristry competition must also have a Technical Committee. The members of this committee are experienced judges and are responsible for ensuring that all competitors follow the competition rules to the letter. Constant vigilance and scrutiny of every element of a competitor's work ensures a level playing field for all.

President of the Technical Committee is Tracy Tomlinson from the UK

A member of the UK Floristry Judges Guild, Tracy is a certified national and international floristry judge and has travelled the world as a competition consultant and judge.

Members of the Technical Committee

• Rain Wang from China.

• Ferenc Kruzslicz from Hungary.

• Roxana Barrientos from Latin America.

• Richard Mos from The Netherlands.

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