Matt's competing at the World Butchers Challenge!

Our talented butcher Matt is heading to Sacramento, California to compete for Team GB at the World Butcher Challenge.

Our very own Matt Lewis was selected to represent Team GB, which draws talent from across the UK.

A total of 15 teams from around the world will face off in Sacramento, California between 2^nd and 4^th September 2022

It’s the first time competing at an international level for Matt, but he has previously won British titles including Young Butcher of the Year. Matt's been busy preparing for the competition over the past year, meeting up with the rest of the team every 2 months for practice and team building sessions.

When they get to Sacramento the teams will be challenged to get creative with a range of different meats.

Matt said: “We have three hours to cut and prepare a side of beef, five chickens, a whole lamb, and a side of pork and create an impressive, themed display of our produce. We expect the competition to be intense. But it’s a great way to test your skills against the best butchers in the world”

The challenge involves the teams using their own seasonings, spices, and marinades to create their final products.

The event, dubbed the “Olympics” of the meat industry, will be judged on a range of criteria, including technique, skill, workmanship, innovation, and overall finish with the winners being crowned as World Challenge Champions.

Edward Garthwaite, owner of Blacker Hall Farm said: “We are very proud of Matt, he is an extremely skilled and creative butcher who works hard at Blacker Hall, creating fantastic cuts of meat and exciting produce for our customers. We are excited that he will be competing in the World Butchery Challenge. We’ll be following his progress from back in Wakefield and we hope he can bring back the title back to Yorkshire!”

Ireland were the winners of the last World Butchery challenge in 2018 with New Zealand finishing as runners up.

Matt had been due to represent Team GB in 2020 but the event was cancelled for two years due to the covid 19 pandemic.

We’ll be posting regular updates from Matt as he heads state side this week, following his progress through the competition. Keep checking in and follow us on social media to see how Matt is getting on!