The Break Down: Luke Leyson
In the lead up to World Butchers’ Challenge 2022, we’re (virtually) catching up with competitors around the world to see what they’ve been up to, what their game plan is for 2022 and how they’ve been keeping their skills sharp.
This is: ‘The Break Down’.
First up is Luke Leyson, manager of Goodwood Quality Meats in Adelaide, South Australia, host of The Meat Up Podcast and all-round great guy. Here’s Luke.
Luke, tell me, how long have you been in the industry?
I’ve been a butcher since I was 20, so…10 years now. I began my apprenticeship when I was 17 but actually got my start in the industry at 13, as a clean up boy. So, wow, that’s 16 years I’ve been in the industry.
And now you’re an Australian Steeler! Tell us about that.
I first competed with the Steelers against the Hellers Sharp Blacks in the 2017 Trans-Tasman Test Match in Wellington and ah… yeah we won (Even on Zoom it’s clear Luke is very pleased with this, the Trans-Tasman rivalry is rearing its head already!) then my first WBC was in 2018 when we went to Ireland.
Ah yes, I’ve seen some competitive exchanges between you and a few of the Hellers Sharp Blacks in the WBC Instagram comments. What’s the game plan for taking them on in 2022?
We’ll definitely be watching out for the Kiwis in 2022. They came second in Ireland in 2018 so I think that’s going to spur them on to win. I honestly don’t mind where we come in Sacramento, as long as we beat New Zealand. We could come 15th as long as the Kiwis come in 16th.
Other than that rivalry, what were the highlights of the 2018 World Butchers’ Challenge in Ireland?
Probably the biggest highlight was in the moments right after the competition finished. I’d been training with the five other butchers, putting in the work for months and then when the competition ends, tools go down and all the work you’ve done is on that display. You’ve made that with five other mates from Australia, halfway around the world from home. That was a pretty surreal moment.
I’m not a very emotional kinda guy but definitely at that point you look to your mates and what you’ve put together and you kinda go ‘Ok I’m gonna just walk over here for a second..’. There were grown men crying, you know? I guess they were happy tears and relief, just raw emotion.
For three hours and fifteen minutes, you’ve been moving as quickly and precisely as you can so you’re just physically and mentally exhausted by the end of it. But then comes this adrenaline and you hear the crowd roar and it’s just… wow. We were next to France and they had so many supporters there screaming and singing, it was pretty intense.
“I honestly don’t mind where we come in Sacramento, as long as we beat New Zealand.
We could come 15th as long as the Kiwis come in 16th.”
Outside of competition what was the trip to Ireland as a team like?
Ireland was cold! We got to see quite a bit of it when we travelled around for the study tour looking at all the other butcher shops and meeting butchers from the other nations. (Quick note: Before the WBC all the competitors get together for a ‘study tour’ which is planned to showcase the host city’s local butcher shops, ranches/farms, restaurants and gives our guys the chance to network and build up the banter!) It’s funny, even though you don’t know the other competitors personally and there are language barriers you know you have one thing in common, so you’re like ‘You’re a butcher, I like you, you’re my friend.’
Outside of your day job you host ‘The Meat Up’ a podcast where you interview other butchers and people in the industry, how did that all start?
It actually started when WBC was postponed last year. I realised I didn’t have any competitions to look forward to and I like to keep myself busy outside of work so I thought if I didn’t have any competitions and I couldn’t travel inter state or overseas I’d have to Meat Up (he winks and finger guns, the puns never end!) with other people in the industry another way. So, by doing the podcast I still get to chat and network and see what other butchers are doing even though it isn’t in person.
“For three hours and fifteen minutes, you’ve been moving as quickly and precisely as you can so you’re just physically and mentally exhausted by the end of it. But then comes this adrenaline and you hear the crowd roar and it’s just… wow.”
Do you have a dream guest who you’d love to have on the podcast?
I mean two that I really wanted I’ve already had on, Jess Pryles and Travis Stockstill so I’m quite happy with that. I was really nervous beforehand but once they got on it was like chatting with a mate.
If I was gonna go crazy and think really big it would be Dario Cecchini, he’s an Italian butcher that’s been on Chef’s Table, the series on Netflix. I don’t know how it would work though because I don’t think he speaks English and I’d want to do it in person because he’s got so much energy, he just oozes passion. That’s the same with the Italian team at the WBC too, you just see the passion oozing from them.
You also have a Tik Tok account which you’re pretty active on as well as Instagram, what part do you think social media has to play in butchery?
I think it just gets you out of the four corners of your shop you know? So, if you do have some kind of small presence, you don’t even need a lot of followers, just posting pictures of what you can do and following people you find inspiring is such a good way to connect with other butchers. You can see what butchers around the world are doing and take that back to your shop and see if your customers like it. We all work long hours, things can get mundane and it can be hard to think of new ideas but with social media it’s a shop tour in the palm of your hand.
You can connect and be inspired by Luke Leyson on Instagram here to keep up to date with what he’s up to in the lead up to the 2022 World Butchers’ Challenge. You can also follow The Meat Up Podcast here (and possibly hear him interview Dario Cecchini one day!)
Be sure to follow World Butchers Challenge here too, to get all the updates on WBC 2022 and see who we’ll be chatting to next!