Frohlies Meats has been put on the map after their 15-year-old butcher apprentice carved out the Young Butcher of the Year Award at the Meatstock Toowoomba 2024 Competition.
The first year butcher apprentice and first time competitor Kallum Pearson was crowned champion at the annual event on Thursday 7 to Saturday 9 March at the Toowoomba Showgrounds.
Participants were required to successfully breakdown and bone the side of a lamb, middle of the pork and display it in under 30 minutes.
Kallum competed against 15 other competitors who were all located throughout Queensland and was the youngest apprentice to compete.
“The judges were looking for someone under 25 and who was confident in what they do,” Kallum said.
“I always wanted to find a trade and thought butchering sounds fun so I decided to give it a go.
“I plan to continue and complete my apprenticeship with Frohlies and earn my butchering license.”
Business manager Mitchell Hawe also competed in the competition and placed sixth.
“All competitors were very good at what they did,” he said.
“It’s great the young fella could do it and get such a great result.
“There are a few young people coming through now and its great for all young butchers to be doing this.”
The twenty-one-year-old has been recognised for numerous awards in the past including third place in the Naitonal World Skills Competition and Young Butcher of the Year Award in Melbourne and Sydney.
Frohlies Meats and BJF Limousin owner Brad Frohloff said he and his team are over the moon and extremely excited about Kallum’s and Mitchell’s achievements.
“It’s an amazing achievement and we as a team are very proud of both boys,” he said.
“This will take Kallum to the next level.
“The experience they have both gained from doing this is incredible.”
Frohlies Meats was established in 1933 and was shut down for three years before Brad purchased it.
“It was completely gutted out and abandoned when I bought it,” Brad said.
“We basically built it up again to where it stands today.”
After being involved in dairy studs when he was younger, Brad said he wanted to re-spark his connection with the beef industry and he did this through Frohlies.
Once everything was rebuilt and restored, Brad said he went around to a few good butchers in the area to see what meat he should sell in the shop.
“A lot of people were saying Hereford meat but after using it for a while I noticed we were wasting a lot of it,” he said.
“A couple of Limousin cross’s come in and I was impressed with the meat yield and soft texture of it.”
BJF Limousin is a family-owned stud that breeds quality Limousin cattle which are processed through to Frohlies Meats.
On the property located 8km out of Yarraman is approximately 150 Limousins in the stud and 130 commercial head.
“The droughts have made it hard for us here,” Brad said.
Now preparing for their seventh annual Bull Sale on Friday 16 August Brad said 60 bulls will be on offer and he hopes to see all attend.
