Sample of Stockyard’s Sydney branded beef competition grand championship winner, Stockyard Black

QUEENSLAND’S Stockyard Beef has been recognised at the 2026 Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards, with its premium Wagyu brand, Stockyard Black, earning the grand champion beef title for the fourth consecutive year.

Stockyard Black is the company’s marbling score 8-9 Wagyu offering fed 400 days at the company’s Kerwee feedlot near Jondaryan on the Darling Downs, and sold into export food service markets across North and South Asia, the Middle East and North America.

“The Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards provide an opportunity to benchmark ourselves against some of the finest beef producers in the country, making this recognition particularly meaningful,” Stockyard chief executive officer Lisa Sharp said.

“It is a tremendous achievement and a reflection of the passion, dedication and commitment to excellence shown by our entire team. Stockyard’s ongoing success is underpinned by its focus on genetics, supported by continued investment in its breeding program and strong partnerships with leading producers, including long-standing supplier Diamond Cattle Co, which supplied the winning Grand Champion entry,” she said.

Alongside the Grand Champion success of Stockyard Black, Stockyard’s Marble Score 9+ offering, Stockyard Kiwami, was awarded a Gold Medal in the competition’s Open Class, while its long-fed Angus product, Stockyard Gold, also received Gold Medal honours in the Grainfed Class.

Three branded beef divisions

Easily the most heavily contested class in this year’s Sydney branded beef awards was the Open division, where a record 11 gold medals and eight silver were distributed. While the class is not breed-specific, all 11 gold medalists were Wagyu or Wagyu cross.

Apart from Stockyard’s overall grand champion Stockyard Black entry, other gold medalists from the class included Brisbane-based Paradigm Foods, with a sample of its Senku Pure Wagyu product – last week judged ‘2026 World’s Best Steak’ as part of the annual World Steak Challenge involving entries from 30 countries held in the Netherlands.

The other Sydney Fine Foods Open division gold medalists this year included:

• Jacks Creek Purebred Wagyu Beef, Jacks Creek, Tamworth NSW
• Sher Wagyu Black Label mb9, BeefCorp International Ballan NSW
• Kuro Kin Wagyu, Pinnacle Fine Foods, Merriwa NSW
• Kiwami Wagyu, Stockyard Beef, Brisbane Qld
• Black Opal F1 Wagyu, Harmony Agriculture & Food Co, Melbourne Vic
• Shiro Kin Fullblood Wagyu, Andrews Meat Industries, Lidcombe NSW
• The Phoenix F1 Wagyu, Mort & Co, Toowoomba Qld
• Jacks Creek F1 Wagyu, Jacks Creek, Tamworth NSW.
• Omino Wagyu, Harmony Agriculture & Food Co, Melbourne Vic.

Grassfed, grainfed division winners

Four gold medals were awarded in Sydney’s grainfed beef division, with the ultimate class winner being a marbling score 4-5 entry representing Pinnacle Fine Foods’ Kuro Kin Wagyu program, based out of Merriwa NSW, scoring 93.38 points – the single highest score in the overall competition.

Other gold medals in the grainfed class were:

• JBS Australia scored two golds in the class – firstly for is Pure Prime brand, a minimum marbling score 4 product produced out of the company’s Dinmore QLD lant, and secondly for Riverina Angus, a marbling score 2 product produced out of the Riverina feedlot in Victoria.
• Stockyard earned a third gold medal in this year’s Fine Foods competition for its Stockyard Gold product in the grainfed division.

Other branded beef division winners included Mawhood Brothers, Sunny Point Pastoral Co, Oberon NSW in the grassfed division, scoring 91.12 points and a gold medal.

Also earning a gold in the class was a sample of NH Foods’ Manning Valley Naturally Certified Grassfed program produced out of the company’s Wingham plant on the NSW Central Coast (90.62 points).