World Butchers' Challenge for Northern Ireland in 2018

The prestigious World Butchers' Challenge will be held in Northern Ireland in 2018 for the first time. Belfast will host the global event.

The selection of Belfast for the international events follows a submission by Butchery Excellence, an all-Ireland operation that is headquartered in Northern Ireland, at Aughnacloy in county Tyrone. It's also the first time that Ireland has been chosen to host the challenge.

The World Butchers' Challenge (WBC) will be held as part of IFEX 2018, Northern Ireland's biggest event for the food and hospitality industry. It will take place at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast, with a Gala awards event planned for Titanic Belfast. The challenge is expected to attract 250 butchers from around the globe with a delegation of up to 1,000 extra visitors.

WBC was created as a platform where butchers from across the world could compete and showcase the butchery skills and creative uses of the beef, lamb and pork products from their respective countries. The current World Champion is France.

Having previously taken place in New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain, the winning bid to secure the event for 2018 came from Team Ireland and was submitted by Rhonda Montgomery, chief executive of Butchery Excellence Ireland and chef Sean Owens in conjunction with IFEX.

Rhonda Montgomery says: "Following a recent research trip to the World Butchers' Challenge in Australia, I was confident that Butchery Excellence Ireland could help to deliver the first-ever challenge for Ireland and history is being made, with Belfast the host venue for 2018."

At the World Butchers' Challenge 2018 Belfast it's expected that over 10 global teams will take part in the 2018 event, including teams from Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.

IFEX's Salon Culinaire Director, Chef Sean Owens adds: "We couldn't be happier that we have secured this event for Belfast. This is an incredible opportunity for our Butchery Excellence Ireland members to demonstrate their skills and to shout about the quality of our produce on a world export stage.

"In addition to the competitions, our bid includes a five-day research trip across Ireland for the global delegation. This is our opportunity to showcase the world-class food tourism offering that we're producing across the Island, coupled with visits to our incredible world accredited venues, from the Giants Causeway to the Guinness Storehouse and the Wild Atlantic Way. For our guests, we're hoping that they will take home a real sense of Ireland, and help to further establish our food island reputation globally."

Butchery Excellence Ireland was set up to help butchers across the country keep on top of changes to legislation, food safety, food labelling, new product development, personal development, training and marketing.

Pic Caption: Pictured L-R Stephen McAufield, McAufield Family Butchers with Chief Executive of Butchery Excellence Ireland and Bid Co-ordinator Rhonda Montgomery and Chef Sean Owens. The World Butchers' Challenge (WBC) will take place at IFEX 2018 at the Titanic Exhibition Centre in March, with a WBC Gala awards event which will take place in the Titanic Centre, Belfast.