Underwood Meat Company in Rotherham has picked up the top award at the BPEX Foodservice Sausage of the Year competition for its tasty bangers, triumphing out of a total of more than 230 entries. Its Pork and Chorizo Sausage was one of just fifteen selected by leading industry judges to battle it out in the competition’s grand finale, which took place at London’s prestigious Butchers’ Hall last week.
The winning sausage, which was entered into the Speciality Pork Sausage category, scored highly on taste, texture and appearance and earned Underwood Meat Company the hotly contested ‘Overall Champion’ title.
Mixing Quality Assured pork with ingredients that are on trend
Delighted with the company’s success, Emmanuel Crusiaux, group international accounts manager, said: “To win first prize in the ‘Speciality Pork Sausage’ category with our ‘Pork and Chorizo Sausage’ is a fantastic achievement, but to scoop the ‘Overall Champion’ title is tremendous! Our secret to producing a winning sausage is mixing Quality Assured pork with ingredients that are on trend; we’re always looking to adapt our offerings to fit in with popular cuisines, tastes and flavours – our ‘Pork and Chorizo Sausage’ does just that! We’ll certainly be developing new varieties using interesting ingredients after winning the award – I can’t wait to let the team know and celebrate our success.”
Superb level of entries
Competition organiser Tony Goodger, BPEX’s foodservice trade manager, said: “Underwood Meat Company did incredibly well – we were overwhelmed by the superb level of entries this year, so to be crowned overall champion is a fantastic achievement.
British Sausage Week, 4-10 November
“The competition is a great way to kick start the celebrations for this year’s British Sausage Week (4-10 November) and highlight the incredible variety of quality assured sausages available on menus in pubs, restaurants, cafés and schools. From innovative spicy varieties and fruit-filled specialities to traditional Cumberland and Lincolnshire sausages, we really have been delighted by the quality and range of sausages on offer.”
The categories for this year’s competition, which drew entries from butchers, catering suppliers, manufacturers and chefs, were chosen to reflect the exciting sausage marketplace and celebrate the range of quality assured varieties available on menus. They were: Traditional Pork Sausage, Speciality Pork Sausage, Best Export Sausage, Best Innovative Pork Sausage and Best Healthy Eating Sausage.
BPEX represents pig levy payers in England and works to improve the competitiveness and efficiency of the English pig industry. BPEX is a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
The Red Tractor Pork logo indicates the quality and country of origin of the pork, that it has been produced responsibly to rigorous standards, is traceable back to Red Tractor farms and independently inspected at every stage of production.