Australia’s butchery team, with captain Luke Leyson centre

AUSTRALIA’S team of six crack tradesmen finished third in the biennial World Butchers Challenge event staged in Paris overnight.

In a close contest, host team France won this year’s overall gold medal, with Germany runners-up.

Australia’s Brett Laws made the World All Stars butchery team

Australian team member Brett Laws was named in the World All Star butchery team, along with butchers from Germany, Italy and France.

First established in 2011 as a trans-Tasman rivalry between New Zealand and Australia, the competition has since grown into a global event. In 2025, the Paris event brought together 14 nations to compete in the World Butchers Challenge. First-time competitors this year included Indonesia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Romania and Spain.

Hosted by Confédération Française de la Boucherie (French Butchers’ Confederation), the event saw France’ team of six master butchers demonstrate unparalleled craftsmanship, earning them the prestigious Friedrich Dick Golden Knife Trophy at an awards ceremony held at the iconic Paradis Latin in Paris overnight.

Head Judge David Lishman of Great Britain praised the champions: “France delivered a flawless performance, demonstrating precision, teamwork, and innovation in every aspect of their work. Beyond their technical excellence, they showed true passion for the craft.”

Given three hours, With just over three hours on the clock, each team transformed a side of beef, a side of pork, a whole lamb, and five chickens into a visually stunning display of value-added cuts. Their expertise in boning, slicing and finishing was matched only by their creativity and innovation.

Australia’s representatives – The Makani Australian Butcher Team – included Captain, Luke Leyson (SA), Brett Laws (NSW), Craig Munro (NSW), Garreth Gorringe (NSW), Tom Bouchier (VIC), Troy Wheeler (VIC) and Gary Thompson (Qld).

Preceding the main event, four of Australia’s top, young butchers competed in the World Champion Butcher Apprentice & Young Butcher competitions. They included Justin Wade (VIC) and Matthew Papandrea (NSW) (Young Butchers); and Kai Dennis (Qld) and Jim McCaffery (VIC) (Butcher Apprentices).

Nolwenn Courau from France claimed the Young Butcher title, while Nino Candela from France was named the 2025 World Champion Butcher Apprentice.

Celebrating product excellence and commitment to sustainability

Beyond the main competition, several prestigious accolades were awarded to recognise outstanding craftsmanship and innovation in product development.

These awards included:

• World’s Best Beef Sausage – USA, Beef Bulgogi
• World’s Best Pork Sausage – Germany, Ludwig’s Apple Onion Brats
• World’s Best Gourmet Sausage – USA, Green Chilli Sausage
• World’s Best Pork Product – Spain, Multicolour Skewers (Pinchos multicolour)
• World’s Best Lamb Product – New Zealand, Lamb cutlets (Te Wha Nota Cutlets)
• World’s Best Beef Product – Brazil, Meat Acordeon
• World’s Best Poultry Product – Ireland, Chicken Italiano with pistachio, lemon pepper & parmesan cheese

Brazil won the world’s best value-added beef product with this item, called Meat Acordeon

The 2025 World Butchers’ Challenge broke new ground, with a record 14 nations competing and attracting more than 6000 spectators over the two-day event, making it the largest event in WBC history.

The 2025 Challenge also saw a record-breaking number of female competitors, with 19 women showcasing their skills across the World Butchers’ Challenge, World Champion Butcher Apprentice, and Young Butcher competitions.

More photos from the event will be added here.

Irish competitors during last night’s competition