Judging

The World Steak Challenge prides itself on offering an independent, robust and fair judging process from start to finish. Integrity is at the heart of everything we do.

The Judging Process

Our judging is independent and monitored at every stage, with every steak being judged on its own merits against our internationally agreed judging criteria. All steaks are coded throughout the judging process so that the producer’s name and the country of origin remain anonymous until both Stage 1 and Stage 2 are complete. In this challenge, there is no minimum or maximum maturation date for products entered into the competition.

The 2023 judging took place across multiple days at Vlees & Co steakhouse, located in Amsterdam, Netherlands on the 13th September 2023. 

Stage One

The first stage consists of technical judging. All steaks are judged according to both raw and cooked criteria by our expert panel, the judges will be drawn from a wide range of nationalities and expertise to ensure international differences in taste are accounted for.

All medal winners will gain the right to utilise these medals on product packaging and marketing efforts, aligning their produce with an internationally recognised accreditation scheme that symbolises quality.

Raw criteria:

  • Appearance

  • Aroma

  • Colour

  • Marbling

  • Consistency of fat trim

Cooked criteria:

  • Appearance

  • Aroma

  • Flavour

  • Succulence

  • Tenderness

Stage Two

All scores are totalled and the winners are verified by our independent judging panel.

At this point, the best Fillet, Ribeye, Sirloin and Wagyu steak will be decided and aligned to our international categories, where we ultimately announce the best cuts from Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America.

The steak with the highest overall score is declared the winner of the coveted World’s Best Steak award, and its supplier is given the title of World’s Best Steak Producer.

Our Judges