Cranstons win big at National Butchery Awards
We’ve won some awards! We sent 11 of our products off for judging by the Q Guild of Butchers back in October for their annual Smithfield Awards, and the winners have now been announced. We won 10 Gold and one Silver. We are absolutely ecstatic!
The Smithfield Awards bring together products from Britain’s Best Independent Butchers. Products are scrutinised by an independent panel of judges and awarded bronze, silver or gold medals if they are deemed of high quality.
The winning products included our famous recipe Thin Cumberland Sausage, Cumberland with Black Pudding and Cumberland with Honey and Mustard; Smoked Dry Cured Back Bacon; Pork and Apple Burger, Honey Roast Ham and Sausage and Apple Flan, all of which use pork from sourced from Orchard House Farm which is about 4 miles away from HQ.
Other gold award products include from the ready to cook range: the Bombay Slice which is succulent lamb mince combined with peas and gentle spices encased in puff pastry, and Chicken, Bacon, Brie & Cranberry which is a chicken supreme stuffed with brie and cranberry sauce wrapped in multi award-winning Dry cured Smoked Streaky Bacon.
The awards, which have been running for 30 years, are held annually by the Q Guild which represents over 100 independent butchers across the UK. The guild mark is a quality seal of approval which recognises craft skill and high quality. The awards ceremony took place at the Ironmongers Hall in London, and we sent down our production manager Dave and Retail manager Peter to represent us! The awards were hosted by Saturday Kitchen chef Matt Tebbutt.
Martin Jones, Cranstons General Manager said: “Our teams of Butchers and Makers are really passionate about producing high quality butchery and delicatessen goods day in day out so we love it when their hard work and dedication is recognised with quality awards, to win 10 Golds is wonderful.”
Claire Holland, Manager of the Q Guild of Butchers commented: “The annual Smithfield Awards are a highlight of the year for butchers across the country. We receive hundreds of entries for these awards and product testing is rigorous. To be awarded in this way is a real mark of strength and quality.
“These awards are a true celebration of butchers who are the top of their game, combining traditional skills and knowledge with innovation; great taste with immaculate sourcing. These butchers are custodians of a proud tradition of local artisan butchery and I’m delighted to celebrate their success.”