Ontario’s Finest Butcher 2026 Crowned at Meat Industry Expo

Oct 12, 2026

Marco Mazzarolo of Herrington’s Quality Butchers has been named Ontario’s Finest Butcher 2026, earning the title following the final round of competition at the Meat Industry Expo in Mississauga.

Hosted by Meat & Poultry Ontario, the competition brought together 11 butchers from across the province, showcasing the technical skill, craftsmanship and merchandising expertise behind Ontario’s meat industry.

The competition began with an elimination round September 14 at Handtmann Canada in Waterloo. Three competitors advanced to the October 3 final: Connor Stewart of J&G Quality Meats, Nick Projkovski of Metro and Mazzarolo.

Putting Butchery Skills to the Test

The final round went beyond traditional cutting skills.

Competitors were given assigned cuts in advance and worked within a designated pantry budget to develop their own display concepts. They were evaluated on butchery skills, creativity, merchandising strategy, visual presentation, consumer appeal and product storytelling.

Mazzarolo ultimately separated himself with a display that combined technical execution with stories connecting the products to his family.

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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