The annual American Association of Meat Processors Convention, held July 9-11 in Milwaukee, also hosted the annual American Cured Meat Championships. The ACMC is the largest nationwide cured meats contest of its kind in the United States, and this year’s competition featured 644 products submitted by 51 plants from across the country. There were 30 categories, and the Grand Champions of each class is as follows

• Andouille Sausage: Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage Co., Tulare, Calif.
• Bacon – Heavyweight: Bardine’s Country Smokehouse, Crabtree, Pa.
• Bacon – Lightweight: Klein Smokehaus, Boerne, Texas
• Braunschweiger: McDonald’s Meats Inc., Clear Lake, Minn.
• Country Bacon – Dry Cured: Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage Co., Tulare, Calif.
• Cured Specialty Meat Products: Woods Smoked Meats, Bowling Green, Mo. (Country Ham)
• Dried Beef: Arrow Farm Meats, Rock City, Ill.
• Frankfurters/Wieners - Coarse Ground: Wilson Farm Meats, Elkhorn, Wisc.
• Frankfurters/Wieners – Emulsified: Edgewood Locker, Edgewood, Iowa
• Ham, Bone-In – Heavyweight: The Country Butcher, Tolland, Conn.
• Ham, Bone-In – Lightweight: Wilson Farm Meats, Elkhorn, Wisc.
• Ham, Boneless – Commercial: Alex Froehlich Packing Co., Johnstown, Pa.
• Ham, Boneless – Traditional: Holland Bros. Meats, Duncansville, Pa.
• Ham, Semi-Boneless: Woods Smoked Meats, Bowling Green, Mo.
• Jerky – Restructured: Bellingar Packing, Ashley, Mich. (Hawaiian with Kick)
• Jerky – Whole Muscle: Clarks Custom Meat Company, St. Joseph, Mo. (Mongolian Beef Jerky)
• Luncheon Meat – Large Diameter: Alex Froehlich Packing Co., Johnstown, Pa. (Kolbassi Lunchmeat)
• Meat Snack Sticks: Valley View Farm, Templeton, Mass.
• Meat Snack Sticks – Flavored: Block & Cleaver Artisan Meats, Siren, WI (Fennel & Cheddar Cheese)
• Old World Dried Fermented Sausage: Driftless Provisions, Viroqua, Wisc. (Loukanika)
• Ring Bologna – Cooked: Geiss Meat Service, Merrill, Wisc.
• Semi-Dried Sausage - Cooked, Non-Fermented: Block & Cleaver Artisan Meats, Siren, Wisc. (Garlic Summer Sausage)
• Small Diameter Hot Link Sausage: Den’s Country Meats, Table Rock, Neb.
• Small Diameter Smoked & Cooked Sausage: Bardine’s Country Smokehouse, Crabtree, Pa. (Kolbassi)
• Small Diameter Smoked & Cooked Sausage - Specialty Flavor: Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage Co., Tulare, Calif. (Spicy Mozzarella)
• Smoked Turkey: Bardine’s Country Smokehouse, Crabtree, Pa.
• Specialty Game Meats: Block & Cleaver Artisan Meats, Siren, Wisc. (Bison Summer Sausage)
• Summer Sausage – Cooked: Woods Smoked Meats, Bowling Green, Mo.
• Smoked Salmon (2026 Specialty Class): Woods Smoked Meats, Bowling Green, Mo.
• Fresh Traditional Bratwurst (2026 Fresh Class): Merindorf Meats Inc., Mason, Mich.

There were four winners in each category: Reserve Champion, Champion, Reserve Grand Champion and Grand Champion. Each class is judged by internal and external characteristics by meat industry professionals, including processors, suppliers and meat science professors. In many cases, the winners were separated by a mere handful of points. A full list of winners is available here: https://aamp.com/resource/resmgr/2026acmc4.pdf.

There were two additional awards presented at the 2026 ACMC awards ceremony. The Cured Meat Excellence Award goes to the company that had the best overall performance at the ACMC. The Clarence Knebel Memorial Best in Show Award goes to the product that was judged to be the best in the entire competition. This year, both awards went to Woods Smoked Meats of Bowling Green, Mo. The Best in Show award went to the Country Ham that the company submitted for the Cured Specialty Meat Products class. Steve Bolton, owner of Woods Smoked Meats, was on hand to accept his company's awards.

Steve Bolton, owner of Woods Smoked Meats, accepts the Clarence Knebel Memorial Best in Show Award. Courtesy of AAMP

AAMP congratulates all of this year’s winners and extends a sincere thank you to this year’s judges, coordinators and volunteers. It takes many people to support the registration, check-in and judging of more than 600 products, and the AAMP members and university students who give their time makes it all possible. Next year’s competition will take place during the 2027 AAMP Convention, July 22-24 in Lexington, Ky.

Source: American Association of Meat Processors