A Queensland-produced Wagyu has been crowned World’s Best Steak at the 2026 World Steak Challenge in Amsterdam. Paradigm Foods’ Senku Pure Wagyu fillet also claimed World’s Best Grain-Fed Fillet and Oceania’s Best Steak, securing three major titles for Australian beef.
From Queensland to Amsterdam
Paradigm’s winning cut was bred by fourth-generation cattle producers Adam and Hayley Rea at Torrens Creek in Central Queensland. With decades of Wagyu breeding experience, the family has developed their Wagyu program with a focus on producing cattle suited to Australian conditions.
“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 is beyond anything I set out to achieve,” says Adam Rea.
The Competition
Selected from 470 entries representing 30 countries, the fillet underwent blind tasting. A panel of 60 industry leaders scored each steak against the World Steak Challenge’s raw and cooked criteria.
In its raw state, judges assessed the steak’s appearance, colour, marbling and fat trim consistency. Once cooked, they considered the aroma, flavour, succulence, tenderness and texture.
The 2026 competition marked Paradigm Foods’ first time entering the challenge.
“It’s been something we’ve wanted to enter for some time. We were lucky enough to take the top medal for the first time around,” says Nick Thompson, General Manager of Paradigm Foods.
A Wider Win for Australia
For the Australian beef industry, the result extends beyond Senku Pure Wagyu. The win returns the grand title to Australia after Ireland’s Dawn Meats & Lidl were crowned in 2025 and shines the spotlight on the quality being produced by the Australian Wagyu industry.
The result demonstrates that locally bred Wagyu can compete at the highest level of the global premium beef market. Thompson says it is “the result of decades of breeding work by graziers across Central Queensland who don’t get the recognition they deserve”.
