Over 200 entries judges have selected the top three sausages in each of the five categories, which will now go forward to the grand final at Butchers’ Hall on 26 October 2012.
The finalists are:
Category 1 – Traditional Pork Sausage Category
• Cumberland Sausage, The British Premium Sausage Company
• Traditional Pork Sausage, Althams Catering Butchers
• Red Tractor Lincolnshire Breakfast Pork, The Welsh Sausage Co Ltd
Category 2 – Speciality Pork Sausage Category
• The Pickled Pig, Pork & Strong Ale, A Turner and Sons
• Caribbean Pork Sausage, J.C. Rook & Sons Ltd
• Chilli Sausage, Archers Butchers Ltd
Category 3 – Best Pub Pork Sausage Category
• London Banger with Young's Special Bitter, Solent Butchers Limited
• Farmhouse Sausage, Moss Valley Fine Meats
• Traditional Pork Sausage, Primrose Herd
Category 4 – Best Innovative Pork Sausage Category
• Premium Pork Sausage with Chorizo and Olive Oil, Scan Foods UK Ltd (F A Gill)
• Tuscan Sausage Crumb, York House Meat Products Ltd
• Low Salt, Honey & Rosemary Whirl, Vaughans Family Butcher
Category 5 – Iconic British Banger Category
• Lincolnshire Horseshoe, York House Meat Products Ltd
• Pork & Leek Sausage, Cam Family Butchers
• The Londoner, The Frenconian Sausage Co Ltd
Tony Goodger, BPEX’s foodservice trade manager, said: “The first round of the competition was very difficult to judge due to the incredibly high standard of entries. There has been so much innovation in the sector from different shapes and exotic flavours, such as the ‘Caribbean Sausage’ and ‘Tuscan Sausage Crumb’ to sausages that are suitable for different markets, such as the ‘Low Salt, Honey & Rosemary Whirl’.
“We’ve also seen an increase in the number of sausage-makers working with micro-breweries and partnering pork with great British ales, to produce unique varieties that are ideally suited to the pub and restaurant market. The brand new Iconic British Banger category; introduced for British Sausage Week 2012 (5-11 November), did not fail to disappoint with many entries wowing the judges.”