The Ashburton banger beat 400 entries across 11 categories to win the Supreme Award at the annual Devro New Zealand Sausage Competition.
A panel of culinary trained chefs, butchers and food writers judged the sausages aroma, texture and taste to decide New Zealand's top sausage at today's final in Auckland.
This year the top 23 gold medallist sausages also competed for the 2014 People's Choice Award with the Peri Peri Chicken sausage from Westmere Butchery in Auckland voted the public's favourite.
Head judge Kerry Tyack said New Zealanders could be well satisfied the quality of sausages they were buying continued to increase, as seen by all the judges in the early stages of the competition.
"This year we had more sausages scoring at the top level than ever before. Great combinations of flavours, lower fat and thoughtful use of seasoning means better sausages are available throughout the country."
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Winners:
* Supreme Award Winner:
* People's Choice Award Winner: Westmere Butchery, Peri Peri Chicken (Auckland)
* Gold Medallists by Category:
Continental Fresh Category
- Mangawhai Meat Shop, Toulouse
- New World Nelson City, Boerewors
- Westmere Butchery, Italian Bandiera (Auckland)
Continental Ready-To-Eat Category
- Euro Gourmet Meats, Chorizo Biersticks (Christchurch)
- Farmer Jones, Cheese Kransky (Mount Maunganui)
Flavoured Category
- Agora - The Good Food Shop, Traditional Beef Flavoured (Dunedin)
- Greytown Butchery, Beef Flavoured
Gourmet Category
- Allenton Meat Centre, Beef & Blue Cheese (Ashburton)
- Waikanae Butchery, White Wine & Fennel (Waikanae)
Pre-cooked/BBQ Category
- Farmer Jones, Big Red (Mount Maunganui)
- Hellers, Super Savoury Pre-cooked
Poultry Category
- Peter Timbs Meats, Moroccan Chicken (Christchurch)
- Westmere Butchery, Peri Peri Chicken (Auckland)
Rounds Category
- Blackball Salami, Black Pudding
- Greytown Butchery, Black Pudding
Saveloy/Polony/Cocktail Category
- Greytown Butchery, Saveloy
- Hellers, Original Cocktail
Traditional Beef Category
- Eastbourne Village Meats, Beef (Wellington)
- Harris Meats, Old English Beef (Cheviot)
Traditional Flavoured Category
- Aussie Butcher New Lynn, Beef & Onion (Auckland)
- Foodstuffs South Island, Pams Fresh Express Pork, Apple & Sage
Traditional Pork Category
- New World Rototuna, Pure Pork (Hamilton)
- Raeward Fresh Nelson, Premium Pork
* Silver Medallists:
Continental Fresh Category
- Magills Butchery, Pure Pork Toulouse Breakfast (Te Awamutu)
- Peter Timbs Meats, Sicilian (Christchurch)
Continental Ready-To-Eat Category
- Farmer Jones, Cheese Kransky (Mount Maunganui)
- Hellers, Spicy Bierstick
Flavoured Category
- Hellers, Pork Flavoured
- New World Morrinsville, Beef Flavoured
Gourmet Category
- Allenton Meat Centre, Roast Beef & Caramelised Onion (Ashburton)
- Countdown, Mild Curry Beef
Pre-cooked/BBQ Category
- Greytown Butchery, Beef Flavoured Pre-cooked
- Hellers, Cheese & Bacon Pre-cooked
Poultry Category
- Ellerslie Meats, Wild Apricot & Tarragon Chicken (Auckland)
- New World South City, Snagalicious Thai Chicken (Christchurch)
Rounds Category
- Col's Butchery & Deli, Black Pudding (Mount Maunganui)
- Peter Timbs Meats, Black Pudding (Christchurch)
Saveloy/Polony/Cocktail Category
- Harris Meats, Smoked Saveloy (Cheviot)
- Magills Butchery, Saveloy (Te Awamutu)
Traditional Beef Category
- Murchison Meats, Beef
- New World Waihi, Premium Beef
Traditional Flavoured Category
- Hellers, Country Pork
- New World Rototuna, Burgundy Beef (Hamilton)
Traditional Pork Category
- Leonard's Superior Smallgoods, Prime Pork (Auckland)
- New World Winton, Central Pride Traditional Pork
* Bronze Medallists:
Continental Fresh Category
- Angus Meats, Italian Casalinga & Fennel Seed (Christchurch)
- Meat King Albany, Chaurice (Auckland)
Continental Ready-To-Eat Category
- Park Ave Continental Meats, Polish Kielbasa (Lower Hutt)
- Peter Timbs Meats, Kransky (Christchurch)
Flavoured Category
- Magills Butchery, Pork Flavoured (Te Awamutu)
- Peter Timbs Meats, Royal Oxford Pork (Christchurch)
Gourmet Category
- New World Kumeu, Beef & Blue Cheese (Gluten free) (Auckland)
- New World Windsor, Lamb, Roma Tomato & Caramelised Onion (Invercargill)
Pre-cooked/BBQ Category
- Magills Butchery, Magills Pre-cooked (Te Awamutu)
- Peter Timbs Meats, Classic Beef Pre-Cooked (Christchurch)
Poultry Category
- Col's Butchery & Deli, Free Range Chicken (Mount Maunganui)
- New World Gore, Chicken, Herb & Garlic
Rounds Category
- Eastbourne Village Meats, Black Pudding (Lower Hutt)
- Peter Timbs Meats, White Pudding (Christchurch)
Saveloy/Polony/Cocktail Category
- Hellers, Smoked Saveloy
- The Village Butcher, Traditional Saveloy (Havelock North)
Traditional Beef Category
- Moo's, Baa's & Oinks, Pure Beef (Putaruru)
- Netherby Meats, Plain Beef (Ashburton)
Traditional Flavoured Category
- Allenton Meat Centre, Pork, Sage, Apple & Rosemary (Ashburton)
- Moo's, Baa's & Oinks, Cumberland (Putaruru)
Traditional Pork Category
- Aussie Butcher New Lynn, True Pork (MSG, Dairy & Gluten free) (Auckland)
- Murchison Meats, Pork
By Rebecca Quilliam of APNZ
