Hereford Prime the Best of Brand - Retail

Winning smiles from Mike van der Hoeven, left and son Ben with their plaques for winning Best of Brand (retail) with Hereford Prime and being awarded second place in the Best of Crossbreed class with a Hereford-Wagyu cross at the Steak of Origin.

Hereford Prime and Magills Butchery were awarded the Best of Brand (retail) at Steak of Origin 2010, continuing the success of Hereford Prime having been placed in the final every year the competition has been running.

Mike van der Hoeven, a registered Hereford breeder from Te Awamutu, also took second place in the cross breed class with a Hereford Wagyu cross. He bred the heifer entered, specifically with the intention of entering the competition.

The staff at Magills all contributed to the selection of the steaks entered in this Steak of Origin competition and a great deal of thought and effort went into the entries. The win is a great achievement and a credit to Mike and the Magills team

The competition itself received just over 400 entries and Magills gained placings in two different sections of the competition. There were just under 80 Hereford entries in total, including entries from commercial farmers, making for a great success rate in the finals with finalists in three of the five classes.

The animal that the winning steak in the Best of Brand retail class was derived from was a 18-month-old Hereford Friesian cross heifer selected by Steve Weck from RD 1 Livestock and finished by G & L Comins at Graelyn Farms at Wharepapa, Te Awamutu.

Hereford Prime director Jan Wills said it was an exciting evening for Herford Prime and its directors and all Hereford members.

Chairman of Hereford Prime Laurie Paterson said the success in the retail class consolidated last year’s win in the Best of British class.

“It reinforces the fact that Hereford Prime and Hereford derived beef is a high end product offering true consistency and unrivalled quality.”

With just 20% of the competition entries and successfully being placed in the finals every year since the Steak of Origin began, speaks volumes about the quality of Hereford beef he said.

The Morrison family also few the Hereford flag with an entry in the Best of Breed British class. They were placed fourth with their Ezicalve Hereford entry.

With about 400 entries received in the Steak of Origin this year competition is heating up for the class titles and overall titles. The competition has been running for eight years and aims to find the most tender, tastiest sirloin steak in New Zealand.  It is open to beef farmers, retailers, wholesalers and foodservice.

Olympic BNX rider Sarah Walker says she was thrilled to be a judge of the steaks in the finals. 

“I’d never turn down a chance to eat the best steaks in the country! They all tasted brilliant; it was hard to select a winner,” she says.

Sarah joined Richard Loe, Jamie McKay, Hester Guy and Graham Hawkes in the final round of judging held in conjunction with Beef Expo.