Kory Edwards, of South Nowra Meats, took home the Australian Meat Industry Council's national 'best gourmet burger' award on Saturday, February 8.

Aged 30, it was his second crack at the top spot - he also won in 2018.

"It's pretty stiff competition," he said.

"It was surreal hearing our name get called out. To achieve against that sort of competition, we know we're doing something right."

Mr Edwards said he was "thrown in the deep end" at the beginning of his career, when his mum told him one day she'd lined him up an apprenticeship, and he'd be starting in the morning.

He completed his apprenticeship at Sanctuary Point Butchery, and went on to work at several local butchers before opening his own store.

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He has owned South Nowra Meats for the past five years, and said innovation was crucial to the survival of retail butchers.

"You're always trying new ideas, talking to other butchers and learning," he said.

"We stick together. We all want to try and do something different from the supermarkets so the industry will stay alive."

The key to his winning chicken curry coconut burger?

"There's a lot of fresh ingredients and that's what sets the bar a bit higher and makes our product a bit better," Mr Edwards said.

"We do some research, come up with the product we think tastes best and put it out there.

"When you get good feedback from your customers and your peers, you get a lot of reward out of that."

And although Mr Edwards said he would recommend life as a butcher to anyone, he had one important caveat.

"It's one of those industries where it's not just a job," he said.

"You need a real drive and passion to get through the day. If you have that, you will succeed."