Rangers Valley Black Market has claimed victory in Queensland’s prestigious Darling Downs Beef Battle.
The event, hosted by Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise Food Leaders Australia, saw 10 beef companies battle to be named the best branded beef of the Darling Downs.
Owned by the Marubeni Corporation of Japan, the Rangers Valley feedlot at Glen Innes, NSW, specialises in long fed pure Black Angus and Wagyu cattle, with an operating capacity of 33,000.
It is a primary destination for Team Te Mania cattle as part of the long-term relationship it has been building with RV over the past 24 years. At the Team workshop in Torquay in June 2018, Managing Director Keith Howe praised the contribution of Team Te Mania members and not just the quality of their cattle but their extraordinary presence at the top end of marbling carcasses – going as high as marble score eight.
The Darling Downs Beef Battle trophy was awarded to Keith at the end of the evening and was based on the scores blind taste tests from 324 diners.
Entrants included last year’s champion NH Foods, Mort & Co, Rangers Valley, Stanbroke, JBS Australia, John Dee, Stockyard Beef, Arcadian Organics & Natural Meat Co, Maranoa Beef and Kilcoy Global Foods.
TSBE Food Leaders Australia general manager Bruce McConnel said the event was a great chance to showcase the region’s best beef.
“This is Australia’s largest taste testing competition, with 324 judges,” he said.
Rangers Valley not only took the overall title but also claimed the award for best grain-fed beef.
Keith said they were very pleased to come out on top in the event.
“We have a lot of passionate people that are all collaborating across the supply chain and to see our premium Angus brand, being our Black Market, we’re really, really pleased with it,” he said.
“About 20 per cent of our product finishes on a domestic market but we’re really export-orientated with 80 per cent of our business on export and we’re very much focused on a diversified portfolio of countries so we’re just getting that brand business out there.”
Team Te Mania cattle, along with others, are procured across the eastern seaboard including in Victoria, NSW and south-east SA and put through a 270-day grain fed program at Glen Innes and are then processed at John Dee abattoir at Warwick.
