Ngāpuhi‘s 34-year-old Luka Young has finally nailed the title of best young butcher of the year, after multiple attempts.
The Kaitāia butcher beat 10 other competitors at the New Zealand Butchery Awards in Auckland.
A butcher with a traditional facial tattoo (mataora) isn’t often seen in this trade but Young wants it to be seen as normal.
“That was a big reason for me doing it. I work in a supermarket, and that is the heart of the community, so everybody comes to shop within the supermarket, and everybody sees it; kids, older people, different ethnicities. So it was all about normalising it, being proud within myself being Māori and showing the world and hopefully breaking down barriers and making it more acceptable everywhere,” he says.
Young was judged on his skills in boning, trimming, slicing and dicing different meats, and a display of prime meat products.
His time in the industry started off with the encouragement of a friend who worked in the local Pak’n’Save. “I had a mate who was in the butchering industry and I had just gotten my partner hapū at the time. I was only a young kid, and I wanted to be a builder, so I was working on building sites. But my mate was working at Pak’n’Save and he dragged me in saying ‘we need a worker and we need you in’.”
“So I got involved with Pak’n’Save and worked my way through an apprenticeship up to a butchery and I’ve been entering these competitions ever since. Just seeing what you can make out of these comps and where it can lead you and take you, so I’ve just been running with it ever since.”
Young was a member of the Sharp Blacks team that placed third at the world championships in the USA last year. He’s still aiming to be one of the best in the business, and to show a Māori is pulling it off.
“That’s the reason I do this competition to prove myself and my worth and I want to make it back in the team and I want to go over to France. And it will be beautiful to go over to France and show the mataora to the world.”
Young is heading home to Kaitāia with his award, so his own team of apprentices can see that with hard work comes success.
“We’re the most talented people out there, hard workers, and I have four apprentices back home in Kaitāia and they are all Māori and that’s what I’m trying to be like, a good role model for them, show them what they can accomplish.”
Taking out the award was only a matter of time, he says.
“I knew if I kept backing myself it would pay off,” says Young. “I think my experience and creativity set me apart in the competition and especially the mentorship from Hellers Sharp Blacks captain Riki Kerekere has helped immensely.”
Head judge Peter Martin who is the butchery training advisor at Skills4Work in Auckland, says this year’s competition was a spectacle to behold, with each and every competitor showcasing the best skills.
“Coming off the back of the regionals I knew this would be a hard competition to judge due to the high standard of competitors,” says Martin. “It came down to very fine margins and not making errors. The winners did a fantastic job, put up a good display and did it with good technique.”