A 32-day aged Irish Angus striploin steak from producer Dawn Meats that is available at Lidl stores won the title of the World’s Best Steak at the 2025 World Steak Challenge.

The champion steak also won the titles of 'Europe’s Best Steak' and the 'World's Best Grass-Fed Sirloin' at an awards ceremony held in London on November 10.

The two-day judging process took place in September at Vlees & Co steakhouse in Amsterdam with 60 international steak judges in attendance.

Agriland recently put a sample of the winning steak to the test.

The steak was cooked medium-rare on a searing hot pan before the all important taste test took place.

The taste, smell, texture and eating quality of the steak were all of high quality with the Agriland team in agreeance with the decision of the World Steak Challenge judges.

According to the organisers, the World Steak Challenge, launched in 2015, is a recognised "stamp of quality to support world-class steak production on a global platform".

The World Steak Challenge judging process

All steaks are coded throughout the judging process so the producer’s name and the country of origin remain anonymous to the judges until both stage 1 and stage 2 of the judging process are complete.

The first stage consists of technical judging. All steaks are judged according to both raw and cooked criteria by a panel of expert judges.

Raw criteria for judging:

Appearance;
Colour;
Marbling;
Fat trim consistency.

Once these aspects are judged on the steak, they are then cooked.

The cooked criteria for judging is as follows:

Appearance;
Aroma;
Flavour;
Succulence;
Tenderness;
Texture.

The judges are drawn from a wide range of nationalities and expertise to ensure international differences in taste are accounted for.

The event is now entering its eleventh year and has grown to become an internationally recognised award for any steak producer to obtain.