One of the annual highlights of the AAMP Convention is the American Cured Meat Championships. The ACMC is the largest national cured meat competition in the country, and this year's edition was a standout event. There were 813 products entered across 29 categories by 72 plants, and this year's winners included some of the association's most decorated processors as well as some relative newcomers to the competition.

The grand prize, the Clarence Knebel Best of Show Memorial Award, was awarded to RJ's Meats, located in Hudson, Wisc. The company won for its entry in the Boneless Commercial Ham category, which won a rare perfect score for flavor. Rick Reams, owner/operator of RJ's Meats, is a member of AAMP's Cured Meats Hall of Fame. The Cured Meats Excellence Award was given to Country Meat Shop. The Moberly, Mo.-based processor won for earning the most overall points in the ACMC. It previously won the Cured Meats Excellence Award in 2018.

Each category has four winners: Grand Champion (first place), Reserve Grand Champion, Champion and Reserve Champion. This year's Grand Champion winners in each category are:

• Andouille Sausage: Bardine's Country Smoke House Inc., Crabtree, Pa.
• Bacon – Heavyweight: Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage Co., Tulare, Calif.
• Bacon – Lightweight: Schmidts' Meat Market, Nicollet, Minn.
• Braunschweiger: Gentert Packing Co., Holstein, Neb.
• Country Bacon - Dry Cured: Dehmer's Meats, St. Michael, Minn.
• Cured Specialty Meat Products: McDonald's Meats, Clear Lake, Minn.
• Dried Beef: Tiefenthaler Quality Meats, Holstein, Iowa
• Frankfurters/Wieners - Coarse Ground: Country Meat Shop, Moberly, Mo.
• Frankfurters/Wieners – Emulsified: Karl's Country Market, Menomonee Falls, Wisc.
• Ham, Bone-In – Heavyweight: Holland Bros. Meats, Duncansville, Pa.
• Ham, Bone-In – Lightweight: Holland Bros. Meats, Duncansville, Pa.
• Ham, Boneless – Commercial: RJ's Meats, Hudson, Wisc.
• Ham, Boneless – Traditional: Country Meat Shop, Moberly, Mo.
• Ham, Semi-Boneless: Dayton Meat Products Inc., Malcom, Iowa
• Jerky – Restructured: Schmidts' Meat Market, Nicollet, Minn.
• Jerky - Whole Muscle: Strick's Specialty Meats, Hattiesburg, Miss.
• Luncheon Meat - Large Diameter: Newhall Locker & Processing, Newhall, Iowa
• Meat Snack Sticks: Gentert Packing Co., Holstein, Neb.
• Meat Snack Sticks, Flavored: Amana Meat Shop & Smokehouse, Amana, Iowa
• Old World Dried Fermented Sausage: Bardine's Country Smoke House Inc., Crabtree, Pa.
• Ring Bologna – Cooked: Morgan's Meat Market, Waseca, Minn.
• Semi-Dried Sausage - Cooked, Non-Fermented: Morgan's Meat Market, Waseca, Minn.
• Small Diameter Hot Link Sausage: Den's Country Meats Inc., Table Rock, Neb.
• Small Diameter Smoked & Cooked Sausage: Block & Cleaver Artisan Meats, Siren, Wisc.
• Small Diameter Smoked & Cooked Sausage - Specialty Flavor: Clark's Custom Meat Co., St. Joseph, Mo.
• Smoked Turkey: Woods Smoked Meats Inc., Bowling Green, Mo.
• Specialty Game Meats: Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage Co., Tulare, Calif.
• Summer Sausage – Cooked: Hermann Wurst Haus, Hermann, Mo.
• 2024 Featured Class: Specialty Beef Product: Paradise Locker Meats, Trimble, Mo.

The ACMCs are judged by academic and industry professionals during the AAMP Convention. The technical advisors for the ACMCs are Dr. Jonathan Campbell of Penn State University, Dr. Terry Houser of Iowa State University and Dr. Jeffrey Sindelar of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The ACMC coordinator is Matt Wenger of Iowa State University.

The 2025 American Cured Meat Championships will take place during the AAMP Convention in Kansas City, Mo., on July 24–26, 2025.

Source: American Association of Meat Processors