New Plymouth butcher’s saveloys win gold and venison sausages take silver in

The top saveloys in New Zealand are made in New Plymouth using a traditional recipe, the judges of the Great New Zealand Sausage Competition have ruled.

The Kiwi Butcher Shop took out the gold medal for their saveloy entry in the Heat n’ Eat category, while their Venison, Cracked Pepper and Worcestershire sausage was awarded a silver medal in the Gourmet Varietal category.

It’s not the first time the saveloy has won gold, and shop owner Stephen Morrison reckons this is because it is ‘’still traditional”.

‘’We still make saveloys like we did when Dad [Peter] started back in 1967. We pretty much use the same seasoning from back then.

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‘’Dare I say it, the ingredient we use for the venison is an Australian ingredient. We use it because it is really full of flavour and it’s got a real punch to the sausage.’’

This year the competition, which has been going for 25 years, had a record number of entries – 605 from 99 sausage producers across 17 categories.

Instead of an awards dinner in Auckland, Tuesday night’s awards ceremony was pre-recorded and emailed to winners, so Morrison had a ‘watch party’ with staff and suppliers.

‘’That’s how we found out we won.’’

The Kiwi Butcher Shop started when Morrison’s father, Peter, took over Martins Butchers on Brooklands Rd in 1967.

‘’We moved here about 18 years ago down on this site in Leach St.’’

After all those years, saveloys remain a big seller for them, Morrison said.

‘’We send a lot of saveloys out to take away bars all over New Plymouth. We send half a tonne every two weeks just to one distributor.’’

Morrison said he knows from experience that winning awards garners attention.

‘’We get phone calls from all over New Zealand from people who have seen it in the media and want to try a pack of your saveloys. ‘Can you send a box down to the South Island?”