NEWS: Queensland Wagyu Crowned World’s Best Steak 2026
BRISBANE, Queensland: A premium Wagyu fillet from Queensland has claimed the top prize at the prestigious World Steak Challenge in Amsterdam, with judges naming it the World’s Best Steak 2026.
The winning Senku Pure Wagyu fillet, produced by Brisbane-based Paradigm Foods, emerged from a field of 470 entries representing more than 30 countries, earning the highest global honor in the competition on its first appearance.
The World Steak Challenge, run by UK publisher William Reed since 2015, brings together 60 industry leaders to assess steaks in a blind tasting. Each entry is judged against a set of raw and cooked criteria designed to evaluate the quality of the beef.
Behind Queensland’s winning fillet is a story of generations of cattle breeding, local expertise and a carefully managed finishing program.
The animal was bred by Adam and Hayley Rea, fourth-generation Central Queensland graziers from Torrens Creek who have spent most of their working lives breeding Wagyu. The cattle are then finished at Smithfield Feedlot under a bespoke, purpose-built grain program.
For Paradigm Foods General Manager Nick Thompson, the unexpected success highlights the quality and consistency being produced by Australian cattle producers.
“That tells you what Australian producers are capable of. 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,” Thompson said.
Thompson said Paradigm Foods’ role was to bring the best Australian beef to an international audience.
“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.”
He said the award was a moment for the broader Central Queensland cattle industry as much as it was for Paradigm Foods.
“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.”
For Adam Rea, the recognition represents a remarkable milestone for his family’s cattle operation and the region.
“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,” Rea said.
“We do it because we believe in the cattle, not because you expect a night like this.”
At Smithfield Feedlot, Andrew Shearer-Smith said producing beef of this caliber requires a highly tailored approach, with no shortcuts to achieving the level of marbling required.
“Finishing cattle to this level takes time, patience, and a program built specifically around the animal, not a generic ration,” he said.
The World Steak Challenge title is also a return to the top for Australian beef. Ireland’s Lidl and Dawn Meats claimed the honor in 2025.
For the producers, feedlot team and beef specialists behind the Senku Pure Wagyu fillet, the 2026 victory places Central Queensland firmly on the global stage, showcasing the result of decades of breeding, finishing and farming expertise.
