Diaries at the ready: The battle of the butchers is back on

Ashley Gray (GMA) is CEO of the World Butchers’ Challenge (WBC), a global best in class butchery competition which is committed to creating positive change for the global meat sector narrative. Latest news from WBC here:

The World Butchers’ Challenge, widely regarded as the ‘Olympics of Butchery’, will now take place on 2 & 3 September 2022 at the Golden 1 Center – the home to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings – in Sacramento, California.

The competition was originally slated to take place in September 2020 but, like many events, fell victim to Covid-19 disruption.

World Butchers’ Challenge Chair, Rod Slater was thrilled that a new date had been agreed and the international butchery community had something to look forward to.

“There is no doubt the last year or so has been tough for our competition, so to be able to secure dates at the Golden 1 Center and to give butchers a target to aim at again is just the motivation we all needed.”

16 teams from across the globe will be competing for the Friedr. Dick Golden Knife Trophy and will have three hours to transform a side of beef, a side of pork, a whole lamb and five chickens into a themed display of value-added cuts.

Danny Johnson, captain of the Butchers of America team, and the driving force behind Sacramento securing the hosting rights for the World Butchers’ Challenge echoed Rod Slater’s excitement that the competition was back on.

“The World Butchers’ Challenge is representative of Sacramento’s ethos around farm-to-fork and we can’t wait to welcome those across the globe who are passionate about butchery head to our food mecca to celebrate what’s great about food.”

After the year we’ve all had, can you think of anything better than cheering on close to 100 butchers battling it out in an amphitheatre fit for a King – or Kings.”

The World Champion Butcher Apprentice & Young Butcher Competition takes place on 2 September, prior to the main event. These two categories, modelled on the same concept as the World Butchers’ Challenge, are individual competitions which recognise and reward upcoming talent in the industry.

The competition is proudly sponsored by Friedr. Dick and Devro.