GUELPH, ON – November 1, 2019 – Brent Herrington, owner of Herrington’s Quality Butchers in Port Perry, took home top prize in the Ontario’s Finest Butcher 2019 competition. Herrington outperformed his two competitors in a head-to-head battle for meat cutting supremacy hosted by Meat & Poultry Ontario.

“This competition is all about paying homage to the butcher, a culinary star that is often forgotten,” says Franco Naccarato, MPO executive director. “Today we celebrate our champion as a symbol of opportunity for all the hard-working butchers across the province."

The Ontario’s Finest Butcher competition began six years ago to recognize and showcase the incredible skill found in butcher shops and meat processing plants across the province. Today, the competition is also used to promote the profession in a sector experiencing a significant labour-shortage, highlighting butchers as the next gastronomic superstars.

The theme for this year’s final ‘black box’ round was ‘Outdoor Cooking’ and Herrington along with fellow finalists Doug Easterbrook, Townsend Butchers, and Steve Toms, Fortinos, had 30 minutes to transform two chickens, a leg of lamb, and a beef rib, to prepare several incredible-looking, display-ready items. The judge’s scores combined with the attendee’s votes determined it was Herrington that would carry the honour.

“I’m ecstatic to win the title. Putting our trade in the spotlight will help us all find more qualified people,” says Herrington. “I hope butchers continue to try out, meet new people, and stretch the boundaries of their skill.”

Herrington’s own skills, honed by 30 years of meat-cutting, will continue to be tested as he joins Team Canada in the World Butchers’ Challenge taking place in Sacramento next September.  

In addition to donning the official champion’s black jacket, Herrington took home a Minimax Big Green Egg™, YETI Tundra cooler, and Traeger smoker – a prize package valued over $3,000.

In the elimination round held in September, ten competitors from around the province had 30 minutes to transform a fresh pork bone-in leg, bone-in butt, and bone-in loin, into merchandisable cuts of their choice, and were judged on the degree of difficulty/efficiency and skill level in boning, trimming and cutting, primal cut utilization and financial performance. The top three moved on to the finals where it was still about skill, but creativity and consumer-appeal were added to the judging criteria.

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About MPO 
Meat & Poultry Ontario is the heart of Ontario’s meat industry. Our members are independent businesses proud to serve the communities they live and work in. They can be found across the province, involved in every stage of the meat industry from harvesting to retail.

No matter where they are located or the type of products they produce, Meat & Poultry Ontario members are committed to creating delicious, healthy and nutritional foods for Ontario families. In addition to providing food for your table, your local butcher is a strong economic driver in urban and rural Ontario. Ontario’s meat and poultry sector employs 25% of Ontario’s food and beverage processing industry — the single largest manufacturing employer in Ontario — and generates $8.8 billion of the province’s $42 billion food and beverage processing industry revenue.

Media Contact
Heather Nahatchewitz
Marketing and Communications Director, OIMP
(519) 763-4558 x225
heather@oimp.ca

Watch the Elimination Round

Encl: Brent Herrington – Ontario’s Finest Butcher 2019 photo (in photo L to R: Franco Naccarato, MPO Executive Director; Brent Herrington, Owner, Herrington’s Quality Butchers; Carol Goriup, MPO President)