Butchers and industry representatives recently gathered to mark success at the National Festive Meat Products Competition organised by National Federation of Meat and Food Traders (NFMFT).
More than 60 butchers, guests and industry representatives from across the UK joined together to celebrate industry success at the first ever National Festive Meat Products competition, at the Windmill Lodge Hotel, Coventry.
Paul Swain, representing Owen Taylor & Sons Ltd, Derbyshire, with Turkey and Cranberry Pork Pie picked up awards for Cold Eating Pie and Festive Product of the Day. While Damon Buckingham of Buckingham’s Artisan Butchery in Southwark, London, won four out of nine awards for Festive Fresh Meat Roast, Mini Ham, Pigs in Blankets and Innovative Festive Product with a Traditional Porchetta Christmas Roast.
Other winners included Edis of Ely, Cambridgeshire, with Andrew Edis winning the Festive Stuffing category with a Cranberry and Apple Stuffing. Andrew Ringrose from Broughton Abbey, Leicestershire, won Festive Poultry Roast with a Yuletide Layer Roast while Woods Butchers’ Steve Connor from Liverpool celebrated winning Festive Chipolata with his Caramelised Onion and Cracked Black Pepper recipe.
Following several hours of judging and food industry professionals Viv Harvey and Les Smith cooking entries, judges Graham Palfrey, Jack Tuckley, Derek White and John Taylor MBE awarded 27 Gold, 24 Silver and two Bronze certificates amongst the 60 entries on the day.
Also included in the itinerary were two Butchers’ Forums chaired by NFMFT CEO Roger Kelsey where tips and opportunities were explored as well as demonstrations and presentations from Mike Richardson (AHDB), Danny Upson (Dalziel), Alex Farr, (Innovative Food Ingredients), Eleanor Lelliott (Leonards Ingredients), Steve Derrick (Lucas Ingredients) and John Gallagher (McDonnells).
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.