UK Sausage Week postponed for 2020

Posted on May 18, 2020

A decision has been announced by YPL Exhibitions & Events confirming that this year’s UK Sausage Week (26th October – 1st November) has been cancelled because of the ongoing impact of Covid-19.

The 2020 celebration lunch for UKSW is cancelled.

The Meat Management magazine sponsored event and promotion was scheduled for a June launch to start the process of inviting competition entries. The UKSW competition is the UK’s biggest and is followed up by a celebration lunch to kick start the October promotion, when the UK Supreme Sausage Champion is revealed alongside a host of regional and category winners, covering both traditional and innovative sausage products.

Publisher of Meat Management, Graham Yandell said: “The various parties involved were consulted and a consensus became clear that the sausage competition, which is a major part of the overall promotion, faced serious logistical and judging difficulties. Without a credible competition, the celebration awards lunch, which kick-starts the week, cannot take place.

“Therefore, neither the lunch or promotional week will happen this year and we will take a gap year. Our plan is to resume the promotion for the autumn of 2021, including competition judging around the September period 2021. UK Sausage Week is not going away, but because of unique logistical difficulties this year, we are unable to deliver with certainty what would normally be expected.”

Head judge of the UK Sausage Week competition and CEO of the Institute of Meat, Keith Fisher added: “Naturally this is a big disappointment for everyone, particularly as we are seeing more and more uptake and positive engagement every year. However, we all felt this is a sensible and responsible approach considering the prevailing circumstances, and I am sure we will bounce back bigger and better in 2021.”

Graham Yandell added: “This does not affect any other events and promotions in our portfolio. UKSW has a unique and very different market interface and timescale to our other events and therefore an early decision was required.”