\u201cWith over 800 entries from over 110 stores around New Zealand, it\u2019s getting harder and harder to stand out from the rest, but my team and I keep focusing on quality and innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said sausages were fast becoming the new barbecue staple as meat prices soar. The butchers agreed that beef and lamb prices had increased at least 30% in the past year alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are looking for value, and sausages offer that. They\u2019re more affordable than steak, but when they\u2019re handcrafted like ours, they\u2019re still packed with flavour and quality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mangawhai Meat Shop aka Klinks Family Deli’ won three medals – golds for their Bolognese with Parmesan and Free Range Pork with Fennel sausages and a silver for their Chicken Carbonara sausage. <\/p>\n
Klink said there might even be a special Christmas snag in the works, possibly incorporating a cranberry and bacon stuffing that the store also sells. <\/p>\n
Coopers Beach Butchery was the only overall Category Champions in Northland, winning the highest accolade in the pork section \u2013 the same category in which Omak Meats won silver<\/a>. <\/p>\n Coopers Beach butcher Gavin Cameron said it was his first time entering the competition since taking ownership of the shop five years ago.<\/p>\n However, his winning Blackrock Pork Sausage – named after his previous Auckland business – was the same recipe for which he\u2019d won the Supreme Award back in 2007. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a nod to where we came from and what we\u2019ve built since,\u201d Cameron said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re proud of what we do, and it\u2019s great to see Northland butchers getting the recognition they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Cameron said the value of a local butcher went far beyond the impersonal experiences of supermarket shopping or a meal kit designed by someone else. <\/p>\n \u201cWe talk to our customers, we know what they like, and we can help them make the most of what they\u2019re buying,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Butchers could help customers plan a whole meal, still offered cuts supermarkets had long since dropped, and could custom-make products to order.<\/p>\n This year was the toughest economically for the industry and for customers, Cameron said. <\/p>\n A good sausage was like having a good steak, and at just over $20 kg, the price of two was usually between $5 to $6 – much more affordable than a piece of steak, Cameron said. <\/p>\n