The results are in, and The Lucky Pig has won 10 medals from 17 entries at the 2026 Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards.
1 Gold • 6 Silver • 3 Bronze
From bacon and smoked chicken to gourmet sausages and burgers, this year's results recognise the quality and consistency of products made by our team here in Bentleigh.
And leading the way was our Freerange Short Cut Bacon Rashers, awarded Gold with a score of 90.30/100.
We have been fortunate enough to win plenty of awards over the years, but we never take them for granted. Competition judging is not a lock-in, even for products that have performed strongly before. Every product goes back onto the judging table and has to earn its result again.
Gold for Our Freerange Short Cut Bacon
Our Freerange Short Cut Bacon Rashers were our highest-scoring entry of the competition, finishing on 90.30 points and earning a Melbourne Royal Gold Medal.
| Judging Attribute | Score |
|---|---|
| Flavour | 46.3 / 50 |
| Texture & Body | 18.0 / 20 |
| Appearance | 17.7 / 20 |
| Aroma | 8.3 / 10 |
| Total | 90.30 / 100 |
“A very well made product with great flavour balance and a little bit of shrinkage.”
2026 Australian Food Awards judging feedback
Under the Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards scoring system, a Gold Medal requires a score of at least 90 points and represents an outstanding exhibit with outstanding technical merit.
That is exactly why we value the result. Gold is not simply awarded for producing a good product. You need to clear a deliberately high benchmark.
Shop our award-winning Short Cut Bacon online.
What Does a Melbourne Royal Medal Actually Mean?
It is easy to see Gold, Silver and Bronze and think of them as first, second and third place. That is not how the Australian Food Awards work.
Entries are blind judged and assessed on their own merits against technical and sensory criteria. A product has to reach the required score for a medal to be awarded.
| Medal | Score | What It Represents |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 90–100 | An outstanding exhibit demonstrating exceptional balance and technical merit. |
| Silver | 82–89 | An excellent exhibit demonstrating strong balance and a high level of technical merit. |
| Bronze | 74–81 | A quality exhibit with good balance and no major faults. |
That distinction matters. A Silver or Bronze medal is not a consolation prize. It means the product met a recognised national judging standard and earned the score required for that medal.
You can read more about the Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards judging process .
Our 10 Medal-Winning Products
| Product | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Freerange Short Cut Bacon Rashers | Gold | 90.30 |
| Pork, Guinness & Thyme Sausages | Silver | 88.00 |
| Continental Bratwurst | Silver | 84.70 |
| Freerange Smoked Chicken Breast | Silver | 84.60 |
| Freerange Streaky Bacon | Silver | 84.20 |
| Lamb Souv Burger | Silver | 83.30 |
| Jalapeño Kabana | Silver | 83.00 |
| Wagyu Beef & Beetroot Burgers | Bronze | 81.10 |
| The Leaning Tower | Bronze | 80.30 |
| Natural Streaky Bacon | Bronze | 77.40 |
Six Silver Medals Across Four Different Types of Product
The breadth of the Silver results is one of the things we're happiest about.
Our Pork, Guinness & Thyme Sausages led the Silver medals with an excellent 88.00 points. The judges highlighted the complex, balanced flavour, good appearance and overall eating quality.
Our Continental Bratwurst followed at 84.70, with strong marks for depth of flavour, juiciness and appearance.
The Freerange Smoked Chicken Breast scored 84.60, while our Freerange Streaky Bacon earned 84.20.
Our Lamb Souv Burger received 83.30, and the Jalapeño Kabana scored 83.00, with judges praising its sweet and spicy flavour balance, smoky aroma and presentation.
Six Silver medals across cooked meats, bacon, gourmet sausages and burgers gives us something more valuable than one isolated result. It shows quality across very different products and production methods.
Three More Products Earned Bronze
Three further products passed the Melbourne Royal medal benchmark and received Bronze.
Our Wagyu Beef & Beetroot Burgers scored 81.10, followed by The Leaning Tower at 80.30.
Our Natural Streaky Bacon received Bronze with 77.40.
The Natural Streaky Bacon produced one of the more interesting judging discussions for us. It is intentionally made without nitrite, meaning it naturally presents differently to conventional cured bacon. The judges specifically noted that difference in appearance while still recognising the product's good flavour balance.
It is a useful reminder that competition judging contains both technical assessment and sensory opinion. We take the feedback seriously, but our goal is not to change every product simply to chase competition points. The product still has to remain true to what it was designed to be and, most importantly, work for the customers who buy it.
All 17 Lucky Pig Entries and Scores
We entered 17 products in the 2026 Australian Food Awards. Ten earned medals and seven finished outside the medal ranges.
We're happy to publish the complete scorecard. Competitions are valuable because they provide an independent benchmark. Some entries perform brilliantly, some land in the middle, and occasionally a product gives you plenty to think about.
| Product | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Freerange Short Cut Bacon Rashers | Gold | 90.30 |
| Pork, Guinness & Thyme Sausages | Silver | 88.00 |
| Continental Bratwurst | Silver | 84.70 |
| Freerange Smoked Chicken Breast | Silver | 84.60 |
| Freerange Streaky Bacon | Silver | 84.20 |
| Lamb Souv Burger | Silver | 83.30 |
| Jalapeño Kabana | Silver | 83.00 |
| Wagyu Beef & Beetroot Burgers | Bronze | 81.10 |
| The Leaning Tower | Bronze | 80.30 |
| Natural Streaky Bacon | Bronze | 77.40 |
| Cheese Kransky | No medal | 73.40 |
| Premium Leg Ham On The Bone | No medal | 71.00 |
| Lamb Chorizo Sausages | No medal | 70.90 |
| Traditional Frankfurts | No medal | 66.00 |
| Freerange Leg Ham | No medal | 65.70 |
| Beef, Davidson Plum & Black Cherry Sausages | No medal | 61.50 |
| Lamb, Tarragon, Garlic & White Pepper Sausages | No medal | 46.30 |
A Tough Judging Year
Melbourne Royal describes the Australian Food Awards as a blind judging competition where products are assessed on their own merits against technical and sensory criteria.
This year's judging certainly felt demanding.
Feedback across our entries covered flavour balance, texture, juiciness, salt, spice, colour, appearance and overall eating quality. At times the comments also reflected individual preferences about how much seasoning a product should carry or how a particular style should present.
That is part of putting products into competition.
We listen to the feedback, look for genuine opportunities to improve and keep an open mind. At the same time, we don't automatically change a recipe simply because one judging panel would have preferred more spice, less salt or a different style.
A competition result is one valuable measure. The people buying and eating those products every week are another.
And when the judging is tough, the medals you do earn mean that little bit more.
The Bigger Result: Breadth Across the Range
The Gold bacon is obviously a highlight, but the bigger story for us is the spread of products that received recognition.
Ten different Lucky Pig products earned medals across bacon, cooked meats, gourmet sausages and gourmet burgers.
Those products require very different skills and processes.
Bacon needs careful curing, smoking and control of texture. Smoked chicken needs to remain juicy while carrying balanced smoke and seasoning. Fresh sausages are judged on flavour, aroma, tenderness, appearance and juiciness. Burgers bring their own challenges around texture, handling and flavour balance.
Receiving medals across that spread is recognition of more than one good recipe.
For us, it represents the standard we're trying to build across the whole business: quality ingredients, careful production, consistency and products we're proud to put in the cabinet every day.
Try the 2026 Award-Winning Range
Several of this year's Melbourne Royal medal winners are available online and in store at The Lucky Pig in Bentleigh.
- Freerange Short Cut Bacon Rashers – Gold, 90.30
- Continental Bratwurst – Silver, 84.70
- Freerange Smoked Chicken Breast – Silver, 84.60
- Jalapeño Kabana – Silver, 83.00
- Wagyu Beef & Beetroot Burgers – Bronze, 81.10
- The Leaning Tower – Bronze, 80.30
You can also browse our butcher-made sausage range, gourmet burgers and deli and smallgoods range.
Wholesale for Chefs, Venues and Independent Grocers
The Lucky Pig also supplies restaurants, cafés, caterers, chefs and independent grocers across Melbourne.
Our wholesale capability includes fresh meat, chef-ready custom butchery, house-made sausages, smoked and cured smallgoods, and retail-ready products for independent food retailers.
Learn more about The Lucky Pig wholesale range.
More Lucky Pig Competition Results
- Browse all Lucky Pig competition results
- The Lucky Pig Wins 4 National Gold Medals at the 2026 Australian Meat Excellence Awards
- Champion Flavour: Our 2025 Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards Results
Thank You
We're incredibly proud to bring 10 medals from the 2026 Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards back to Bentleigh.
Thank you to the team for the work that goes into making these products every week, and thank you to our customers who continue to support what we do.
10 Medals • 1 Gold • 6 Silver • 3 Bronze
Visit The Lucky Pig in Bentleigh
Visit The Lucky Pig at 452 Centre Road, Bentleigh VIC 3204 or order selected award-winning products online.
Get directions to The Lucky Pig on Google Maps
Â