Practice pays for winner

Waikato woman Alana Empson has won the 2015 Alto Young Butcher and Competenz Butcher Apprentice of the Year grand final after seeing off the winners from other regions in Auckland.

Alana was the only female in the competition, but said since the competition began in 1993 women had been pretty well respresented, with four female winners.

"More female butchers are coming through now - they generally do pretty well. They are a lot more particularabout the finer details," she said.

Alana could be said to be a natural, receiving the offer of an internship only six hours into her first day on the job.

"I had been working at the checkouts and the previous intern left, so I put my hand up.

"I just thought it was something a bit different."

Starting the role in 2008 without knowing any of the cuts or even the best method of cooking them, by 2010 she was a qualified butcher.

The competition included an interview, an exam and an on-stage challenge.

Alana said the secret to her sucess was practice, practice, practice. "I had my partner's kids ask me test questions.

"I did eight full run-throughs of my cutting test. We had to do it in one and a half hours, which included a mystery cut."

For winning, Alana will be taking a trip to the Gold Coast to watch the New Zealand Sharp Blacks, Australian and English national teams compete in the Tri-Nations butchery competition.

It is a competition Alana wants to join in future, but right now she is content at New World Hillcrest. "I had great support from people in the store during the competition."

It is a dream that may well come true, as Alana also won the International Best Practical Award 2015 for the butcher with the top cutting marks between New Zealand and Australian butchers.