Links Quality Meats won four awards at the Great New Zealand Sausage Competition, announced in Auckland on Tuesday night.
Owner-operators Greg Egerton and James Biggs said they were stoked with the awards.
"This place loves to be creative," Mr Egerton said.
Customers were receptive to the butchery’s experimentation with new flavours and were eager to try something new.
"It’s nice to be able to make something different and it sell well.
"I need it, too; as a butcher, I think we need to be creative."
The butchery’s gold medal-winning miso and apple pork sausage was inspired by a marinade for a pork chop.
Fat, moisture and salt had to stay consistent in a sausage recipe, but otherwise flavour options were almost limitless.
"[If] it balances in a dish you can put it in a sausage," Mr Egerton said.
"Word on the street is they’re all right."
In the past week, the butchery had made about 200kg of sausages in 11 flavours.
"We sent them up knowing ... the customers loved those flavours.
"They’d been through the cabinet for months and selling really well.
"Very pleasantly surprised that they placed as high as they did."
This year, more than 800 sausages and mince products were submitted to the competition across 16 categories.
Neighbouring Princes St Butcher and Kitchen also scored highly, including winning the pork category and the Dunninghams choice award for their traditional pork sausage.
Owner David Gibson said it was amazing to win one of the competition’s biggest catagories.
"That sausage won that same [category] prize last year ... that’s New Zealand’s best pork sausage."
Their pork sausages were always "crowd pleaser" at a barbecues.
The competition’s overall prize was won by Auckland’s Westmere Butchery.
Great NZ Sausage Competition Awards
Dunedin winners
Links Quality Meats: Maple and sriracha chicken (gourmet poultry category champion); skinny sweet Italian pork sausage (gold); miso and apple pork (gold); pepper steak (silver).
Princes St Butcher and Kitchen: Traditional pork (traditional pork and Dunninghams choice award categories champion); traditional beef (gold).
