Canterbury’s sharpest knives

Knives are essential tools in the meat industry, but they’re dangerous if they’re not handled and used correctly. A sharp knife is a safe knife, reducing overuse injuries, slips, and cuts, and helping with increased production output and yield. 

To further support and encourage excellence in knife practice, ANZCO Foods Canterbury runs an annual knife sharpening competition. Knives are tested at random each month on the sharpness tester, with the top scores shared on the TV screens and the overall winners revealed from the top knife score averages across the season.  As always, this year’s competition results confirm the skill and experience of the teams.

This week ANZCO Foods Canterbury Site Manager Geoff Proctor presented trophies to the top scorers in this season’s sharpest knife competition. Congratulations to:  

• Beef slaughter board – Richard ‘Pop’ Lucking (with a monthly average knife score of 8.59)
• Beef boning room – Jack Richards (average score 8.49)
• Lamb slaughter board – Amrit Limbu (average score 8.89)
• Lamb further processing – Vailima Aukusitino (average score 8.58)

They each took away their department’s trophy and a box of beef and lamb mixed cuts to enjoy. 

Argus, which supplies Canterbury’s butcher knives and knife sharpness testing machines, also gifted a cap to each winner.

In the photo, from left: Richard Lucking, Geoff Proctor, Vailima Aukusitino, John Moses, Jack Richards, Chris Hindson, Amrit Limbu, Mike Bown.