The Ultimate Butchers Challenge to raise professionalism in the butchery industry
Professional butchery needs an uplift in this country as trained butchers are increasingly hard to find. To reinvigorate and grow the profession, the Aussie Meat Academy recently held the Ultimate Butchers Challenge in Kuala Lumpur.
Professional butchery is not just about cutting meat, it also showcases the butcher’s skill in deboning, portioning, creation and display of creative and practical applications, reducing wastes and increasing yields.
The Aussie Meat Academy 'Ultimate Butchers Challenge’ is designed to advance the butchery profession by enhancing participants' expertise in meat knowledge, cutting techniques, and essential cooking skills.
The challenge is supported by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), Investment New South Wales, and hosted at UCSI University, Malaysia.
The butchers taking part in the challenge have to have at least a year’s experience in their profession, and aged 40 and below.
There were 16 teams of two each, with at least one member being a professional butcher. Each team was provided with one chilled Australian beef and one Australian lamb cut to work with which were judged and tasted.
The teams were from Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.
The Grand Champion Butcher EZ Meat (Taiwan) received RM2,000, a trophy and awards certificate. The first runner-up Central Food Wholesale Ltd (Thailand) got RM1,000, and the second runner-up Butcher Box Pte Ltd (Singapore) RM800. Both runners-up also received a trophy and award certificates.
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(third from left) Hung Wei Cheng (left) and Chang Wei Yu (middle)
There were also prizes of RM200 each for Best Meat Display Ideas, Best Value Added Meat Ideas, Best Ultimate Tasting Dish and Best Presented Dish.
The competition is to encourage and set a new platform to promote the butchery profession, professionalism and to support the foodservice and retail industry.
A strong butcher’s resume includes tasks like cutting and de-boning meat, preparing displays, weighing and labelling products, reducing waste, and increasing yields. However, to be a competent butcher, he should be familiar with all beef and lamb cuts for various cooking methods and share this knowledge with customers, while precision cutting helps maximise yield, minimise waste, and improve eating quality for shoppers.
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Ultimate Butchers Challenge 2025 - 1st Runner-up: Central Food Wholesale Ltd (THAILAND)
(third from left) Nitiwat Phuengcharoen and Putipong Injai
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The Aussie Meat Academy 'Ultimate Butchers Challenge' encourages butchers to learn, innovate, and share new ideas and trends within the industry.
The competing teams for the Ultimate Butchers Challenge 2025 were judged by a panel of 5 led by Khairul Anuar Muhamad as Head Judge, himself being Lambassador & Senior Lecturer II at Taylor’s Culinary Institute, Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management; Adrian Chong, Aussie Beef Mate & Executive Chef Hyatt Regency Kinabalu; Ridzwan Rasit, Lambassador & Executive Sous Chef, Hilton Kuala Lumpur; Eric Siew, Lambassador & owner / Executive Chef of ABANICO Your Deli Restaurant; Richard Tay, Aussie Beef Mate & Head Chef at CALIA, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.
Here are the overall results:-
Aussie Meat Academy Ultimate Butchers Challenge 2025 Winners’ List
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About the Aussie Meat Academy (www.aussiemeattradehub.com.au)
The Aussie Meat Academy connects, educates and inspires foodservice chefs from all sectors of the industry to achieve success with Australian red meat. It organises red meat education, cooking and butchery road shows, immersions and challenges to increase the profile of the culinary and butchery profession and inspire food professionals to use more Australian beef and lamb in their menus.
About Meat & Livestock Australia (https://www.mla.com.au/)
A producer-owned company, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) delivers world-class marketing, research and development services for Australian beef, lamb and goat producers, while supporting exporters to get their product into the market.
Australia currently exports red meat and livestock to more than 100 countries, exports representing over 70% of the industry’s production. Representing Australia’s high quality and sustainably produced red meat, MLA also designs and delivers marketing programs tailored to each market with the overall objectives of increasing market access, market share and sales of beef, lamb and goat meat.
About Investment NSW (https://www.investment.nsw.gov.au/)
Investment NSW is a government initiative dedicated to driving economic growth and prosperity across New South Wales (NSW), Australia.
It connects businesses, government, and key markets to deliver on strategic priorities that enhance innovation, industry development, investment, and trade.
The agency supports startups, fosters research and development, and promotes global engagement through export programs and international offices.
With a strong focus on collaboration and resilience, Investment NSW aims to build a future-ready economy by empowering local industries and attracting global investment.
Links for butchery and cooking/recipe ideas
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