Aussie Meat Academy Holds The Ultimate Butcher's Challenge In Kuala Lumpur Hosted By UCSI University, Malaysia

The Ultimate Butcher's 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, creating, and displaying creative and practical applications, reducing waste and increasing yields.

The Aussie Meat Academy's Ultimate Butchers Challenge is designed to advance the butchery profession by enhancing participants' expertise in meat knowledge, cutting techniques, and essential cooking skills.

Top Winners Of The Ultimate Butchers Challenge 2025

(L-R) 1st Runner-up Central Food Wholesale Ltd (THAILAND), Grand Champion EZ Meat (TAIWAN)

2nd Runner-up Butcher Box Pte Ltd (SINGAPORE)

flanked by (from left) Valeska Regional Manager - South East Asia, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), Head Judge Khairul Anuar Muhamad,

(from right) MLA Malaysia Country Rep & Singapore Trade Development Manager Rose Yong, MLA Senior Technical Specialist Calvin Gung, Trade and Investment Director (Malaysia) for Investment NSW Alia Jaafar.

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 be 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.

Ultimate Butchers Challenge 2025 - Grand Champion EZ Meat (TAIWAN)

(third from left) Hung Wei Cheng (left) and Chang Wei Yu (middle)

The Grand Champion Butcher EZ Meat (Taiwan) received RM2,000, a trophy, and an award certificate. The first runner-up, Central Food Wholesale Ltd (Thailand), got RM1,000, and the second runner-up, Butcher Box Pte Ltd (Singapore), received RM800. Both runners-up also received a trophy and award certificates.

Ultimate Butchers Challenge 2025 - 1st Runner-up: Central Food Wholesale Ltd (THAILAND)

(third from left) Nitiwat Phuengcharoen and Putipong Injai

Ultimate Butchers Challenge 2025 - 2nd Runner-up: Butcher Box Pte Ltd (SINGAPORE)

(third from left) Lai Chung Leang and Mendiola Aaron Gil Adarve (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.

The Aussie Meat Academy's' 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 

Grand Champion: EZ Meat (TAIWAN) 

1st Runner Up: Central Food Wholesale Ltd (THAILAND) 

2nd Runner Up: Butcher Box Pte Ltd (SINGAPORE) 

Best Knives Skills: Village Grocer Malaysia 

Best Meat Utilization and Yield: AEON RETAIL Malaysia 

Best Meat Preparation: PT. RESWARA MASYA MANA, 

Malaysia's Best Ultimate Dish: EQ Hotel Kuala Lumpur 

Most Innovative Meat Display & Presentation: EZ Meat Taiwan 

Additional Awards: RM200 + certificates 

Special Tajima Beef Dish Award: Ben’s Grocer, Malaysia

Lambassadors Choice Award: Jaya Grocer 1, Malaysia

Innovation Award: Hilton Kuala Lumpur

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, immersion, 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

www.aussiebeefandlamb.my

www.lambassadors.com

www.australianbeef.com.au 

www.australianlamb.com.au