Australian Wagyu fillet crowned ‘World’s Best Steak’
Three steaks from across the island of Ireland are among the winners of the 2026 edition of the World Steak Challenge.
The winning steaks were announced at an awards ceremony held in Amsterdam on Thursday (September 10), following a judging day at Vlees & Co. steakhouse in Amsterdam.
Steaks from Ireland won category titles in two sections and a steak from Northern Ireland won a category title also.
The overall champion taking the title of the 'World’s Best Steak' at the 2026 World Steak Challenge was a fillet steak from Australia - a Senku Pure Wagyu Fillet from Australian producer Paradigm Foods.
The winning steak was also named World's Best Grain Fed Fillet and Oceania’s Best Steak before going on to take the overall title.
The 2026 World Steak Challenge winners by category were as follows:
| Company Name | Category Name | Cut | Country of Origin | Predominant Feed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senku Pure Wagyu by Paradigm Foods | World's Best Steak | Fillet | Australia | Grain-Fed |
| Senku Pure Wagyu by Paradigm Foods | World's Best Grain-Fed Fillet | Fillet | Australia | Grain-Fed |
| ABP UK | World's Best Grass-Fed Fillet | Fillet | Northern Ireland | Grass-Fed |
| Agricola Mollendo S.A. | World's Best Grain-Fed Sirloin | Sirloin | Chile | Grain-Fed |
| Tesco Ireland | World's Best Grass-Fed Sirloin | Sirloin | Ireland | Grass-Fed |
| Hasegawa Farm Co., Ltd. | World's Best Grain-Fed Ribeye | Ribeye | Japan | Grain-Fed |
| Dawn Meats | World's Best Grass-Fed Ribeye | Ribeye | Ireland | Grass-Fed |
| Jack's Creek & Albers | World's Best Wagyu | Wagyu | Australia | Grain-Fed |
Australian producer Jack’s Creek and Albers, a previous winner of the World’s Best Steak category, took home the accolade of World’s Best Wagyu.
Other winners included:
- Tesco Ireland, which won the award for World's Best Grass Fed Sirloin;
- LUMA Beef AG in the US, whose ribeye was named North America’s Best Steak;
- Ireland’s Dawn Meats, which won in the World's Best Grass Fed Ribeye category;
- Chilean producer Agricola Mollendo SA, which came top in the World's Best Grain Fed Sirloin category.
Steaks were awarded in both grain-fed and grass-fed categories.
Awards were also handed out in two company categories - the Small Producer and Large Producer Awards.
Toriyama Cattle Farm in Japan won the Small Producer Award and Australia’s Padoo Wagyu Corporation won the Large Producer Award.
328 medals
A total of 328 medals were awarded at this year’s World Steak Challenge.
Of those, 128 were gold medals, 114 steaks were given silver medals, and 86 steaks took bronze.
Ireland took home the most gold medals, with 29 steaks from the country awarded the accolade, closely followed by Australia, with 27 steaks from the country awarded a gold medal.
Overall, Ireland had the greatest medal haul with 82 steaks awarded either a gold, silver or bronze award, ahead of Australia with 42 medals, and England with 26 medals.
Judging the 2026 World Steak Challenge
Judging for this year’s World Steak Challenge took place at premium steakhouse Vlees & Co. in Amsterdam.
More than 450 steaks were judged blind by a carefully selected judging panel of over 60 experts.
The 2026 judging panel included:
- Richie Wilson, culinary director of FIRE Steakhouse and Bar;
- Ioannis Grammenos, executive chef and Meatologist of Heliot Steak House in London;
- Katie Doherty, CEO at the International Meat Trade Association;
- Butcher and food writer Jessica Wragg;
- Fred Smith, head of beef at Flat Iron.
Editor of Restaurant magazine, Stefan Chomka said: "The World Steak Challenge once again shows the incredible quality of steaks that are being produced across the world with the utmost care and dedication to taste and animal husbandry.
“The challenge is a celebration of beef farming on a global scale and shines the spotlight on those farmers and producers at the very top of their game.
“Congratulations to every producer that received a medal at this year’s event.”
World Steak Challenge
The World Steak Challenge is an annual event that aims to give steak producers and suppliers a much-needed platform to showcase product quality, breed credentials, and processing standards on an international stage.
It is organised by William Reed, the publisher of Restaurant as well as a number of other leading business food and drink publications.
The World Steak Challenge is supported by partners Bord Bia and HVO Meat and is supported by Vlees & Co.
World Steak Challenge Full Winners List:
- World’s Best Steak: Senku Pure Wagyu, Paradigm Foods, Australia;
- Asia’s Best Steak: Japanese Black Wagyu, Meat Japan, Japan;
- North America’s Best Steak: Black Angus and Japanese Wagyu Ribeye, LUMA Beef AG, US;
- South America’s Best Steak: Angus Ribeye, MBRF, Fritz Fleisch & Fisch, Bēf&Co, Argentina;
- Oceania’s Best Steak: Purebred Wagyu Cross Fillet, Senku Pure Wagyu, Paradigm Foods, Australia;
- Europe’s Best Steak: Wagyu Cross Holstein Fillet, ABP UK, Northern Ireland;
- World’s Best Grain-Fed Sirloin: F1 Wagyu, Agricola Mollendo S.A, Chile;
- World’s Best Grain-Fed Ribeye: Japanese Black and Holstein Cross, Hasegawa Farm Co., Japan;
- World’s Best Grain-Fed Fillet: Senku Pure Wagyu, Paradigm Foods, Australia;
- World's Best Grass-Fed Sirloin: Angus Cross, Tesco Ireland, Ireland;
- World's Best Grass-Fed Ribeye: Aberdeen Angus Cross, Dawn Meats, Ireland;
- World’s Best Grass-Fed Fillet: Wagyu Cross Holstein, ABP UK, Northern Ireland;
- World’s Best Wagyu: Purebred Wagyu, Jack's Creek & Albers, Australia;
- Small Producer Award: Toriyama Cattle Farm, Japan;
- Large Producer Award: Padoo Wagyu Corporation, Australia.
The World Steak Challenge is held in Amsterdam and is judged by more than 60 judges from across the world.
