Back in October 2021, we reported on the World Butchers' Challenge in Sacramento, California, where the German national butcher team, Butcher Wolfpack, will again compete against the best in the world.

The competition will take place this year from 2-3 September 2022. Fifteen national teams will compete to transform whole sides of beef, pork and lamb, as well as poultry, into value-added products in under three hours and fifteen minutes. The competition has been taking place for ten years. One of its founding principles is to create an environment in which butchers can strive to surpass the standard meat processing, cutting and presentation techniques, and to come up with creative solutions.

Here at Vion, we have played a significant role in ensuring that the German team is as prepared as possible for the competition. For example, our Buchloe site provides each training session for the German national selection with Bavarian beef all year round. As Wilhelm Habres (Sales & Trade Marketing Director Beef) stated at a press conference (27 July 2022) for the upcoming WBC at the Grillfabrik culinary school in Augsburg: "Vion and Butcher Wolfpack show passion and dedication to butchers' craftsmanship while playing a leading role in food manufacturing in Germany. We are pleased to be able to support the German national team with our premium brand GOLDBEEF and want to lead by example too: The meat trade and industry is undergoing social change, which we will address side by side."

Dirk Freyberger, meat sommelier, master butcher and team captain of The Butcher Wolfpack gave heartfelt thanks on behalf of the whole team: "Without you we couldn't have gone to Sacramento. Industry and trade have a lot in common - tradition binds us together! We provide the public with high-quality meat products. The numerous requirements in areas like animal slaughter mean that it is essential that large companies like Vion take on this role in the supply chain."

Now we are all excited to see how Germany's Butcher Wolfpack will perform in Sacramento. Here at Vion we will keep our fingers crossed for first place.