NSW and ACT's Sausage Kings have been named at an awards dinner in October with a german bratwurst, a smokey pulled pork sausage and a chicken parmy sausage featuring on the winner's list.
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The NSW/ACT Australian Meat Industry Council awards dinner saw the winners of the Sausage King and Best Butchers Burger Competition named across eight categories along with Apprentice of the Year.
Borella Butchery, Albury, was one of the best represented butcheries on the night with finalists in five categories.
Owner Jared Gerahty went home with a first place trophy in the poultry section for his chicken parmy sausage along with two seconds.
The butchery is no stranger to winning awards - best ham and best jerky in NSW are among the past achievements - and Mr Gerahty went to the dinner with high expectations.
While he wanted to bring home five trophies, he was thrilled to see the chicken parmy sausage win gold.
"It always feels great when a product you think is fantastic gets some accolades," he said.
Originally from Western Sydney, Mr Gerahty has owned Borella Butchery for five years after first getting into the butchery game in high school as a wash up boy.
Once he got a taste, it wasn't long before work took over.
"Slowly my boss started beating the bus to the bus stop and before I knew it I was hooked," he said.
"I travelled from Sydney, to Queensland, back to Sydney - butchering all the way. Learning more and more of my trade as I went."
Mr Gerahty described Borella as "a family butcher shop with a focus on high quality and boutique meat with in-house made smallgoods and just a bit of crazy willy wonka flair".
That flair can be seen on Mr Gerahty's social media channels where he regularly gives people a look behind the scenes at the butchery.
One of his latest videos, on how to roll and stuff a turkey (see the video above), attracted millions of views, over 60,000 reactions and 30,000 shares on Facebook alone.
Mr Gerahty said the social media success came on the back of posting videos to Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and views isn't the only thing he's gained from it.
"It's translated into sales well and truly, gaining over 15 per cent increase in retail each week," he said.
"And just the sheer volume we can move now is bizarre.
"A little corner store butchery that can put on ribeye steaks at $16.99kg and end up moving nearly four tonne in a week."
He also encouraged other business owners to give social media a crack.
"Spend 10 minutes learning socials and it could really benefit your life," he said.
Borella Butchery's two second placings at the AMIC competition came in the lamb sausage and gourmet burger categories.
The lamb category was won by Premier Meats, Tenterfield, for their honey, lamb and mint sausage while the best gourmet burger was won by Rathmines Butchery, Rathmines, for their gourmet lamb burger.
Mountain Side Meats, Shoalhaven Heads, enjoyed success at competition with two wins in the traditional Australian beef category, with their thin Aussie sausage, and the gourmet category with their smokey pulled pork sausage.
This year marked a change in the competition format which resulted in more entries, AMIC NSW/ACT state manager Ian Hayes said.
"In previous years, AMIC held multiple regional competitions and then a standalone state competition in each state," he said.
"This year, the format changed to one competition per state where both regional and state winners were determined. This new format increased member entries."
The winners of each category will now move through to the national finals which will be held in February 2024.
NSW/ACT AMIC AWARD WINNERS
TRADITIONAL AUSTRALIAN PORK
1st: Tumbi Wholesale Meats, Tumbi Umbi: classic pork sausage
2nd: Penrose Meats, Tamworth: thick Australian pork sausage
3rd: Premier Meats, Tenterfield: traditional pork sausage
TRADITIONAL AUSTRALIAN BEEF
1st: Mountain Side Meats, Shoalhaven Heads: thin Aussie sausage
2nd: Blue Ribbon Quality Meats, Leumeah: traditional butchers sausage
3rd: Beresford Quality Meats, Nowra: traditional Australian beef sausage
POULTRY
1st: Borella Butchery, Albury: chicken parmy sausage
2nd: Terrace Meats, Raymond Terrace: chicken, spinach and fetta sausage
3rd: Campbells Superior Meats, West Pymble: chicken, cheese and chive sausage
GOURMET/OPEN
1st: Mountain Side Meats, Shoalhaven Heads: smokey pulled pork sausage
2nd: Penrose Meats, Tamworth: jalapeno chilli sausage
3rd: Waniora Village Butchery, Port Macquarie: banh mi sausage
LAMB
1st: Premier Meats, Tenterfield: honey, lamb and mint sausage
2nd: Borella Butchery, Albury: saltbush, lamb, pumpkin and feta sausage
3rd: Hasties Top Taste Meats, Wollongong: roast lamb dinner with minted peas sausage
CONTINENTAL
1st: Roberts Meats, Singleton: German bratwurst
2nd: Waniora Village Butchery, Port Macquarie: bratwurst
3rd: Premier Meats, Tenterfield: German bratwurst
GOURMET BURGER
1st: Rathmines Butchery, Rathmines: gourmet lamb burger
2nd: Borella Butchery, Albury: jalapeno cheeseburger
3rd: Munro's Quality Meats, Wilberforce: mushroom and garlic burger
BEEF BURGER
1st: Tweed Coast Meats, Cabarita Beach: homestyle beef burger
2nd: Hasties Top Taste Meats: Wollongong, signature beef burger
3rd: Campbells Superior Meats, Turramurra: traditional beef brisket burger
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR
Winner: Jayden Tindale, Sutcliffe Meats
Runner-up: Jayden Hermon, Munro's Quality Meats
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
