Along with receiving 13 awards at the 2022 Ontario Finest Meats competition in October, VG Meats was presented the Ron Usborne Award of Excellence – for the fourth time in the past 15 years — for the highest overall combined score among entrants in the biennial competition.
Established in 1969 in Norfolk County, VG Meats is operated by brothers Cory, Chad, Kyle, and Kevin Van Grongingen, who raise small herds of cattle on several family farms using regenerative farm practices. They also work with farming partners to offer high quality Ontario poultry, lamb, pork, and beef products.
“We are extremely honored to receive these awards,” said Kyle Van Grongingen. “A lot of hard work goes into producing these products which includes great efforts by our farmers, staff and supporting businesses.”
VG Meats won platinum awards for their turkey kielbasa, beef pastrami, spicy Mexican pork sausage, and Cowboy Coffee Rubbed back bacon, as well as two gold and seven silver awards for a variety of other products.
The 2022 Ontario Finest Meat Competition is hosted by Meat and Poultry Ontario, which launched its first meat competition in 1987.
“It is the largest of its kind in Canada with 14 categories that embrace both modern trends and the enduring heritage of Ontario’s artisanal meat and poultry products,” said April Jackman, communications manager at DFO. “Judging criteria was based on flavour, aroma, texture, uniqueness and visual appearance, and the top three entries from each category were selected based on the judges’ combined scores.”
This year’s competition attracted 115 entries from 15 meat processors across the province, and were judged by a panel consisting of chefs, authors, retail buyers, media, and foodies.
Winners were announced at a gala event on October 15 in Niagara Falls.