Knives are out for Mangawhai Sharp Black headed to Butchery World Challenge

Hellers Sharp Black and Mangawhai Meat Shop owner Dan Klink. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northland butcher and freshly minted "Hellers Sharp Black" Dan Klink is living proof a mother knows best.

The 35-year-old Mangawhai local says his journey to be part of the New Zealand team headed to the World Butchers' Challenge (WBC) in California alongside Kaitāia's Luka Young, was thanks to his mum.

"I wanted to leave school at the age of 16 but she wasn't really too keen for me to leave and do nothing," Klink said.

He had a pipe dream to become a chef but first planned a summer off before the course kicked off.

"Mum being mum found a job at a local butchers as a summer job for me."

Thus Klink's apprenticeship in the Mangawhai Meat Shop began.

"I ended up loving it. It's the store I now own 19 years later," he said.

When asked whether mum ever says I told you so, Klink playfully replied: "She never lets a moment go past."

Regulars at the store have seen Klink grow from a teenaged novice butcher to one of the country's best - confirmed by his selection into the Hellers Sharp Blacks.

Hellers Sharp Blacks - Mangawhai's Dan Klink, bottom row far right, and above him Kaitāia's Luka Young. Photo / Supplied

His foray into competitive butchery followed a five-and-a-half-year stint working in Melbourne.

"When I got back and bought the business I heard about the competitions and thought it was a good way to get our profile out there and show what I had learned in Australia to the New Zealand industry," Klink said.

His first step into the competitive arena was at the Young Butcher of the Year.

"I don't think I got a place in any competitions for maybe three years."

Klink sharpened his skills and focus which landed him the Upper North Island regional category winner where he was the only independent butcher among a room of supermarket giants.

Klink began his career as an apprentice in the Mangawhai Meat Shop and eventually bought the shop Photo / Michael Cunningham

He hasn't looked back as his competitive venture has earned him multiple podium finishes.

But Klink is now counting down to his greatest competition - dubbed the Olympics of butchery - at the World Butchers' Challenge in the US.

The team of seven, made up of butchers from around the country, have their sights set on ousting 15 other countries for The Golden Knife Trophy.

During the three-hour-and-13-minute competition, the team will work together to fillet, mince, or make sausages from high-end cuts of meat.

Klink will be doing the boning and breaking alongside Reuben Sharples, who began his career in Waipū.

The September 3 competition marks the first time Klink has competed internationally.

But he's feeling good about the team's chances as their "amazing" dynamic and culture, driven by captain Riki Kerekere from Auckland, makes them as "good as any other".