An Australian steak has taken the top prize at the 2026 World Steak Challenge, beating more than 470 entries from 30 countries.
Senku Pure Wagyu, produced by Paradigm Foods in Brisbane, was named the world’s best steak at the competition in Amsterdam.
It is the first time the brand has entered the global competition, with the Australian-grown beef earning three awards, including World’s Best Grain-Fed Fillet and Oceania’s Best Steak.
The cattle were bred by fourth-generation Central Queensland graziers Adam and Hayley Rea, who said they had not expected to win.
“To have an animal we raised on our own country end up on the best tables in the world and now be named the best steak in the world, full stop, on the very first attempt, is beyond anything I set out to achieve,” Adam said.
“This is a win for Central Queensland as much as it is for us. We do it because we believe in the cattle, not because you expect a night like this.”
The steaks were judged in a blind tasting by 60 industry leaders, who assessed entries from around the world.
Paradigm Foods general manager Nick Thompson said the award highlighted the work of Australian cattle producers.
“This is not luck – it’s the result of decades of breeding work by graziers across Central Queensland who don’t get the recognition they deserve,” he said.
“Our job at Paradigm Foods is to find the very best of what Australia grows and put it in front of the world’s best chefs and toughest judges.
“Those judges agreed with us, and I hope every producer in Central Queensland feels some ownership of this result, because it belongs to them as much as it does to us.
Last year’s winner was Lidl and Dawn Meats from Ireland.
Those wanting to try the 2026 winning beef can find it at Fatcow on James Street in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.
Image: Paradigm Foods Instagram
