The region’s young butchers put their talents to the test for WorldSkills

On Wednesday, August 10, six young meat retail (butcher) apprentices gathered at the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE (SQIT) to take a slice at achieving top honours for their industry.

WorldSkills Australia inspires young people to pursue trade careers by celebrating skills excellence at competitions held at regional, national and international levels.

Pictured above are the 3 apprentices who placed. From left to right: third - Daniel Kendall (SQIT), first - Sam Moon (Axial) and second - Christian Nicholls (Axial).

Judges Matthew Weier, SQIT Teacher, Warren Nicholls, Axial Senior Meat Retail Trainer and Mark White, SQIT Chef, marked the apprentices on a range of criteria including knife skills and presentation.

The winner of this event will go onto compete at state and national levels.

Axial wishes Sam Moon the best of luck in future competitions and congratulates all the apprentices who competed along with their proud employers.

The meat retailing industry provides a wide range of career opportunities for young people ranging from jobs in traditional meat retail outlets, supermarkets to emerging specialist meat product outlets.

There are currently around 24,000 Australians employed in the meat retailing sector with over 1,000 new apprentices coming on board each year.

Axial's meat retail trainers have all had hands-on trade experience themselves and provide tailored learning delivery to suit the needs of the apprentice and the employer.

For further information about training for the meat industry call 1300 729 425 or visit the Traineeship and Apprenticeship section of our website.