Elite Meat in Starbeck, Harrogate, is celebrating a sizzling success after picking up a top award in a national competition run to mark 2017 UK Sausage Week.
The High Street shop’s Traditional Prime Yorkshire Pork Sausage earned the title of Best Independent Butcher: North East, and owner Gordon Atkinson travelled down to the Plaisterers’ Hall in London to receive his award from UK Sausage Week ambassador and TV personality, Eric Knowles, from the Antiques Roadshow.
The ceremony took place on Monday, 30 October 2017, the launch day for UK Sausage Week, which ran through to Bonfire Night. It was fronted by Meat Management magazine.
The meat used in Elite Meat’s Prime Yorkshire Pork Sausage comes from outdoor reared pigs from long-time suppliers, Colin Piercy and family, based in Easingwold, near York.
The business sources all its pork from CR&J Piercy’s 420-sow enterprise. The family is renowned for its specially bred porkers and has itself been shortlisted as UK Outdoor Pig Producer of the Year in the 2017 National Pig Awards. The winners were due to be unveiled at the awards ceremony held at Lancaster London Hotel on Monday.(Nov 6)
Gordon Atkinson said:
We are thrilled with yet another award win. This one was special. We had forgotten about the competition, so at the eleventh hour picked some sausage out of the cabinet and shipped them. Our prime Yorkshire pork sausages are on sale every day and this latest accolade is both a true testament to our great British farmers and my fantastic team here at Elite Meat.
The business is no stranger to success in the industry awards arena and is a seven times national sausage champion with different products from its renowned sausage stable.
Earlier this year, Elite Meat continued its amazing run in the annual Great Taste Awards, picking up a 2-star gold with its Stem Ginger Flapjack and 1-star gold with its Free Range Pork Pie. Organised by The Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste is described as the world’s most coveted blind-tasted food accreditation scheme.
Elite Meat also starred in this year’s Butchers Q Guild Smithfield Awards, when the shop’s gold award-winning Smoked Streaky Bacon went on to be crowned Best English Bacon product. This high profile event is regarded as one of the toughest product evaluation tests in the land, held aloft as the Q Guild’s annual ‘Oscars.’
The shop remains a long-standing member of the Q Guild, which represents 121 award-winning independent butchers nationwide, who are all at the top of their game.
Mr Atkinson established Elite Meat in 1999 and the business has expanded and diversified beyond recognition over the ensuing years.
Gordon added:
The good news for customers is that our award-winning pork sausage and bacon are both available from our hot counter on a daily basis!
