About The Founders

The World Alcohol-Free Awards was set up by Chrissie Parkinson and Chris Losh, two people with decades of experience in the worlds of drinks, hospitality, journalism and competition management and judging.

Christine Parkinson

Best-known for her multi-award-winning work as Group Head of Wine for Hakkasan, Chrissie was an early pioneer of the modern alcohol-free space, and began working on non-alcoholic drinks as early as 2015.

Christine has years of experience tasting and evaluating different drinks, and has judged in numerous competitions including as Head of Judging for Sommelier Wine Awards, Acting Co-Chair at IWC Sake Awards, Senior Judge for Decanter World Wine Awards and on numerous trade and consumer panels.

She has won many awards including Imbibe Industry Legend, IWC Sake Contributor, IWSC Lifetime Achievement, WSET Educator of the Year, and the Wine & Spirits Ambassador Catey.

‘It’s a real privilege to be a founder of WAFA,’ she says. ‘I’ve judged in many competitions down the years, and it’s a source of real pride to me to be able to bring a similar level of professionalism, scrutiny and expertise to the world of Alcohol-free drinks.’

Chris Losh

With a background in magazines, Chris has worked as a drinks’ journalist and editor for over 30 years. As well as writing for all of the main drinks’ titles and websites, he has edited Wine and Spirit International, Wine Magazine and, most recently, Imbibe.

In his time at the latter he set up numerous competitions, most notably the Sommelier Wine Awards – the world’s biggest on-trade wine competition, where he worked closely with Chrissie.

‘After spending so many years working in areas where traditions are everything and rules are strictly laid-out, it’s incredibly exciting to work in such a dynamic, fast-moving field,’ he says. ‘There’s no question that the zero-abv category is going to go from strength to strength over the next 20 years, and I really want the World Alcohol-Free Awards to become the global benchmark for its finest products.’