Best in WA: Donnybrook Butchers win at State awards sends power couple to Adelaide for national competition

A young Donnybrook couple on a mission to bring top quality cuts to the South West have walked away with a major State title win and will head to Adelaide next year to take on some of the nation’s best. Donnybrook Butchers’ maple smoked boneless ham was crowned the best in WA, with store owners 23-year-old Bryn Cain his partner Georgia Rutter, 22, being crowned the State’s top regional retailer at the Australian Meat Industry Council Western Australian Awards. The couple had won first place for the ham and rissoles in the South West’s regional round of the competition in June, which led the pair to take their team’s work to the State finals in Perth last month. Going up against the best butchers in WA, the pair said they never dreamt of winning in any category, let alone walking away with two major wins and a third place prize. “There’s a lot of tough competition in this WA competition, so to win that is awesome,” Mr Cain said. “I couldn’t believe it.” Their pair were named AMIC’s regional retailer of the year, won first place in the boneless leg ham category, and took third prize in the best butchers gourmet burger category for their lamb, pumpkin and feta rissoles. The win for the ham — which will take the pair to Adelaide in February for the national finals — is especially rewarding for their team because its only the second year they’ve made this product. Mr Cain has worked at the Butchers since he was a teenager and bought the store with Ms Rutter at the start of 2020. Ms Rutter said it felt good for their team to be recognised at such a high level. “It’s really good, the whole team put so much effort into it to make it work so it’s really nice to get recognition,” she said. The pair won the young business achiever award and were named the emerging business award winners at the South West Business Awards in 2021.