Product success for Southern butchers

The butcher, who runs Rawlings of Cranleigh, in Surrey, took the title in the ready meal category with his beef paupiette, before romping home to take the overall champion award. He also claimed a further two category titles, speciality hot eating pie and meatballs and faggots.

The event, held at the South of England Showground in Ardingly, attracted 33 butchers from across the region, who submitted an impressive total of 245 products for evaluation by the industry's top judges.

This was the seventh and final stop in the 2007/2008 season of BPEX Product Evaluation Events and Regional Roadshow for butchers.

D&G Hepburn of Brentwood, Essex was another butcher to achieve three category crowns on the night, triumphing with their 'Essex Cured Maple Bacon' in the home cured bacon category, 'Essex Cured Smoked Gammon' in the home cured gammon category and 'Black Pudding Ring' in the black pudding category.

Elsewhere, 20-year-old Christopher Cribbs of Greens of Pangbourne in Berkshire impressed the judges with his 'Spicy Lamb Sausage' and was crowned Young Sausage Maker.

Overall winner Robert said: "It's a pretty good result, isn't it? Undeniably, the success is down to the quality of the meat and other ingredients we use as well as the skill of each of the chaps who work here. There are 15 of us, seven of whom used to manage their own shops that have since sadly closed in the 25 years we've been here, so you could say we have a wealth of experience on hand.

"Nowadays we find our customers don't have the time to cook at home, so the majority of our offering is value added products, such as the 'Beef Paupiette'. And since the team also includes a number of trained chefs who are learning the butchery side of the trade, their combined skills are perfect for producing homemade dishes for our customers to enjoy."

Gordon Hepburn of D&G Hepburn was very proud of the team effort that went into producing so many award winning products. He said: "It's a great team who are all very professional and dedicated to their craft."

"Despite being in the business for a while now, it's encouraging to know we're still good at what we do. We always want to strive to be at the top and the critiques you receive from the judges at the roadshow is invaluable in achieving that goal."

Philip Cripps of Greens of Pangbourne was delighted that son, Christopher, was crowned Young Sausage Maker. He said: "I'm so pleased for him, particularly as the winning recipe is one of his own. Christopher makes all the sausages for the shop and I'm sure this award will really encourage him to continue working hard and keep innovating. He joined me in the business as a Saturday boy at the age of 14 and though while still on a learning curve, he has a wealth of experience to draw from here in the shop.

Christopher developed the recipe with the help of one of the other butchers in the shop. He explained: "We've noticed a trend towards spicier food, so we created this particular blend of spices to really compliment the lamb. The 'Spicy Lamb Sausage' has been on sale in the shop for about eight months now and it's been a great success."

BPEX butchery and product development manager, Keith Fisher, said: "Over the last few months we've seen more butchers than ever before put forward a staggering number of top quality products for evaluation, and the South of England roadshow has been no exception. Of the 245 products entered for evaluation at the South of England Showground, 219 achieved awards, over 40 per cent of which were gold. The judges' job is getting tougher and tougher and all credit must go to the butchers who are constantly raising the bar in terms of quality - congratulations go to all that entered."

The Product Evaluation Events recognise and reward product excellence and innovation among butchers. The judges use the following criteria: overall appearance; size and colour; ease of cutting; texture and structure; and most importantly taste and smell.

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