UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — The Beef Checkoff’s Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative hosted its Best Butcher Contest on May 10 at the Penn State Meat Lab during the 2024 Pennsylvania Association of Meat Processors Conference. The title of best butcher was given to Mark Madden, owner of The Meat Shop in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Allen Baysore, from Montoursville, Pennsylvania, won the second place and Joe Avilla, from Windfall Market, in Onset Massachusetts, placed third.
The Best Butcher contest featured six professional meat cutters from across the region who showcased their skills in the art of meat cutting. Other butchers who participated included Scott Carey of Slate Belt Butchery in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Ron Godshall from Godshall’s Quality Meats in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, and Ben Buchanan from Unified Meats Inc. in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
The butchers had 30 minutes in a head-to-head competition to turn a beef top round sub-primal, donated by Cargill, into merchandisable cuts and cut a bone-in pork loin, donated by Clemens Food Group, into precise retail cuts that accurately represent current yield percentages. Additionally, they had to give a two minute consumer sales pitch and correctly identify 15 fresh beef and pork retail cuts. Contestants were judged on accuracy of cuts and yields, knife skills, visual appearance and consumer sales pitch. The largest share of the contestants scores were derived from the cutting portion of the contest.
Madden has 15 years of in-field experience under his belt. He got his start in the industry working in restaurants, specifically sushi bars. While working among sushi chefs, he learned how to utilize all parts of the fish and wanted to apply those same skills to whole beef, pork and lamb. For more information, visit www.nebpi.org/.
