American Cured Meat Championships


In 1949, small business meat processors gathered in Chicago to enter their hams in the First Annual National Ham Show. Sixty-five hams were judged in four classes. This competition started a tradition that is known today as the American Cured Meat Championships (ACMC) - the only national event of its kind in North America.
 
This event has expanded over the years to cover a wide variety of products including hams, bacon, jerky, and sausages. Now hundreds of products are entered in 29 classes each year. Entries are evaluated by judges comprised of meat science academia and industry representatives along with fellow processor judges who have been inducted into the ACMC Cured Meats Hall of Fame. This evaluation provides information for product enhancement that could result in greater sales and business opportunities.
 
Any processor member of the American Association of Meat Processors that produces their own products, and is a registered attendee for the convention, may enter products into the ACMC.

For more information about this year's ACMC, watch this video from AAMP Outreach Specialist Nelson Gaydos.
 
 

2025 American Cured Meat Championships
July 24-26, 2025
Kansas City, Missouri

 
Questions about the ACMC?
Contact acmc@aamp.com
 

2025 American Cured Meat Championships Rules​
Information about the 2024 American Cured Meat Championships will be made available closer to the AAMP Convention dates. Stay tuned!

 

Registration
 


2025 ACMC Schedule
 


ACMC University Class

AAMP is pleased to announce that the University Class competition will once again be held in conjunction with the American Cured Meat Championships (ACMC), July 24-26, in Kansas City, Missouri.

The University Class provides a venue to students who have an interest in processed meats to compete at the intercollegiate level. In no way is the class meant to compete with the processor member, but merely provide students an opportunity to enter into a friendly competition between schools. Besides being able to interact with processor members during convention, the main goal is for students to learn more about meat processing and the applied science involved in creating various cured meats.

The competition is open to students who have an allied membership represented in some fashion from their respective institutions. The type of product(s) that students produce will vary during subsequent years at the ACMC and follow the same rules and entry guidelines for the designated product class. 




Judges on Judging

(Click here for individual product videos)

 

 

THANK YOU ACMC SPONSORS!







 

CLASSES OF ENTRIES

Andouille Sausage
Bacon - Heavyweight
Bacon - Lightweight
Braunschweiger
Country Bacon - Dry Cured
Cured Specialty Meat Products
Dried Beef
Frankfurters/Wieners - Coarse Ground
Frankfurters/Wieners - Emulsified 
Ham, Bone-In - Heavyweight
Ham, Bone-In - Lightweight
Ham, Boneless - Commercial
Ham, Boneless - Traditional
Ham, Semi-Boneless
Jerky - Restructured
Jerky - Whole Muscle
Luncheon Meat - Large Diameter
Meat Snack Sticks
Meat Snack Sticks, Flavored
Old World Dried Fermented Sausage
Ring Bologna - Cooked
Semi-Dried Sausage - Cooked, Non-Fermented
Small Diameter Hot Link Sausage
Small Diameter Smoked & Cooked Sausage
Small Diameter Smoked & Cooked Sausage - Specialty Flavor
Smoked Turkey
Specialty Game Meats
Summer Sausage - Cooked
2024 Featured Class: Specialty Beef Product


Become A Member