Cherry Creek butcher will represent Canada at the World Butchers’ Challenge

CHERRY CREEK, BC — Competing for your country against the best in the world is among the highest honours one can earn. However, this competition is a little different than others you might consider.

A butcher from Cherry Creek is preparing to head to Sacramento next week to compete in the World Butcher’s Challenge. He’s been staying sharp and honing his skills, getting ready to slice into the competition.

Ronnie Keely breaks down a side of beef with the precision of someone who grew up in a family butcher shop.

“There was always something to do,” Keely says, of his earliest jobs in the shop. “Ever since I was little I could come here and lay out jerky on the screens or scrub sausage sticks with an SOS pad.”

Ronnie, a graduate of TRU’s Retail Meat Processing Program is getting his reps in. He’s preparing to represent Canada, as he’ll compete in the Young Butcher Competition at World Butchers’ Challenge on Friday, Sept. 2.

“My challenge is on a separate day [than the main competition],” Ronnie says. “I go for two-and-a-half hours and I start with four different kinds of protein. It has to be broken down, displayed, with a theme in the two-and-a-half hours.”

Ronnie’s father Ron says he’s not surprised his son made Team Canada.

“Once I heard about something like that I figured it’d be right up his alley,” Ron says. “Yep. Didn’t surprise me he was going to jump on that one.”

The elder Keely took over Kam Lake View Meats more than 20 years ago and has built it into a full-service abattoir and custom butcher shop. He figured one of his boys would get into the family business.

“There are three other brothers and they all did some work out here,” Ron says. “Ronnie’s the one that really took a special interest all by himself. Just really proud of him. Looking forward to seeing [Ronnie’s] goal, and looking forward to seeing this grow in North America.”

Keely has been practicing different techniques, making sure he’s completely prepared once the competition gets underway. He’ll be judged on a number of factors.

“Presentation, cleanliness, how you leave your station at the end — even down to product cookability,” Ronnie explains. “You can make something that looks really nice, but can you cook it? That’s a pretty key aspect.”

The Young Butcher Competition is for butchers under 35 years of age. The hope is that if Ronnie does well, he could get a call up to the senior team once a spot opens up.

“It’s an awesome experience so far, and I’ve been able to travel across the country multiple times just to practice with the team. That’s cool, I never thought I’d be able to do that,” Ronnie says with a laugh. “They consider it as the Olympics of meat cutting.”