Glen Murphy wins national butchery apprentice of 2022

Glen Murphy, who is an apprentice at Prime Quality Meats, at Broadway, Sydney, was announced the national apprentice of the year at a ceremony on Saturday night, after competing on Friday and Saturday in Adelaide.

Mr Murphy began his apprenticeship at the age of 47, after spending some time as a cashier for another butcher shop within the Craig Cook group.

He started doing some courses on butchery through Tafe before being asked to consider a full apprenticeship.

"I used to install computers, and it was boring," he said.

"I needed a change, and now, every day is an opportunity to do something better; to learn and do something creative."

Mr Murphy said the opportunities when working with meat were "endless".

His favourite meat to work with is pork, saying it has lots of "scale".

"I work with a lot of young people, and I want to do better than them, but also teach them how to be better than me," he said.

He said one option he would like to try is teaching through Tafe himself.

He says he has appreciated the chance to learn from some "really good butchers" and would like the chance to teach others in turn.

Mr Murphy was one of five state finalists competing in the theory and practical competitions on Friday and Saturday.

Thomas Foods International business development's Rob Warman said the five butchers were supplied a middle of pork, a side of lamb and a whole rump, and had to break those down into smaller cuts on Friday.

They were then supplied their own boneless loin, middleback and porterhouse in a "mystery box" on Saturday and given two hours to turn those into some retail-ready dishes.

National apprentice runner-up Riley Schofield, Torre & Mordini, Perth, had a more traditional route into the butchery industry but, for a while, it was touch and go if he would stay there.

He began working as a "cleanup boy" at a butchery at 14 before taking on an apprenticeship as he got older.

"I wasn't that keen on it to begin with - I couldn't stand the smell," he said.

"But I ended up enjoying it."

He prepared for the competition by combing back through everything he had been taught, as well as looking on Instagram and social media for inspiration.

Also starting as a cleanup boy was Queensland entrant, Harry Hallan, Standard Market Company, Brisbane.

Before moving to Australia from New Zealand, he had done quite a bit of hunting and home butchery, before trying his hand at it officially.

One of his favourite proteins to work with is lamb.

"It's a staple for everybody, an Australian dish that is a bit of an icon," he said.

"If you want something easy - lamb parcel, if you want something with a bit of time - lamb roast, and a barbecue - lamb chop."

He said there was enjoyment in working with high quality meat.

"When a customer comes back and tell you they enjoyed (a dish), it's a great feeling," he said.

Mr Hallan said he would love to manage his own shop one day, but he also has aspirations to keep competing, to one day represent Australia - even against NZ - in butchery.

Another butcher with hopes of taking his knife and skills on an international stage was SA finalist Edward Potter, Churchills Butchery at Glenelg and Marratville.

Also starting as a clean-up boy before beginning his apprenticeship, Mr Potter said it was great to compete before a home crowd.

But he also says there is scope in the industry to travel.

"It's great to see what they're doing, not just interstate but internationally in the industry," he said.

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Mr Potter said he prepared for the competition by considering flavour profiles, and grouping those together to get the final product.

Taking a less conventional path into the industry was Vic finalist Laura Ross, Sinclair Meats, Ballarat.

She was another older apprenticeship, not beginning until her mid-20s, after working on farms in the area.

She was inspired after working on a dairy farm owned by a father and son, both qualified butchers, who did their own kills.

While the industry is still male dominated, she said there are more and more women coming through.

Ms Ross said she enjoyed the chance to make something that looked good.

"People do eat with their eyes and presentation is important," she said.

While she works in a conventional butchery, Ms Ross has also started her own side pursuit, an on-farm butchery business.

She has a coolroom and goes around to farms to butcher their animals.

It is mostly sheep at this stage but she has plans to buy a crane to move into cattle as well.