Top European award for Northern Irish sausages

Northern Irish butcher O'Kane Meats clinched two prestigious European awards for the quality and creativity of its sausages. Based at Claudy in county Derry, O'Kane Meats, a family run business, came top at the recent Sausage Awards in Alencon, Normandy. The company was among sausage makers, white pudding producers and charcuterie specialists from most parts of Europe taking part in the unique competition.

O'Kane, run by brothers Michael and Kieran, is the first Northern Irish butchery business to win the Champion of Britain and Ireland category in the annual competition organised by the Commanderie des Fin Goustiers du Duche d'Alencon.

The small company won the excellence award for its unique chicken and smoked bacon sausage in the European Creative Sausage category and also the top award for grilled Irish pork sausage.

Michael O'Kane, commenting on the European award, says: "We're really delighted to have won two very prestigious awards which recognise quality and innovation.

"We've been in business since 1989 and have won over 100 product awards including Irish trophies for our sausages. Winning this award in the face of such intense competition is a marvellous achievement for the entire team at O'Kane Meats.

'We had heard about the awards over the years and decided to put forward some of products to see how they would get on with this expert judging panel," he adds.

There were also awards for two other Northern Irish butchers - Clogher Valley Meats, Clogher, county Tyrone, and McAtamney Butchers in Ballymena, county Antrim in both the creative sausage and grilled pork sausages categories.

Commanderie des Fin Goustiers du Duche d'Alencon competition was launched in September 1973 to help promote local food producers in Normandy. It was subsequently expanded to focus attention on artisan and smaller producers of meat and sausages across Europe and especially in Britain and Ireland and Germany.

The competition is open to butchers who make their own products.

Pic caption: Michael & Kieran O'Kane.