2011 National Sausage Kings Crowned in Tasmania
The State Sausage Kings took part in the 13th annual National Sausage King Competition, held in Launceston’s Grand Chancellor Hotel on the first weekend of February, 2011.
Under the guidance of Chairman Thomas Beuke, the Tasmanian Retail Council put together an enjoyable weekend of events that kept members and their guests entertained.
The weekend commenced with the meet and greet function on Saturday and once the sausage kings met their interstate colleagues it was time to proceed to the function room for the all important sausage king judging.
In addition to the judging, everyone was able to actively participate in the trade fair of local Tasmanian food producers and to witness and encourage the four Tasmanian apprentices in the mystery box competition.
Chief Judge, Allan Rowan from Bunzl Food Processors led a team of judges who worked their way through the thirty six entries that made up the six categories of the sausage king competition. Allan commented, “As always at the national level we are seeing the very best of what is on offer with the quality and variety of sausages in the competition, and that makes the job of the judges even more challenging.”
The trade fair of local producers included Elmslie Wines, Taverner’s Tasmanian Honey, Cocobean Chocolates, the Tasmanian Gourmet Sauce Company and Valleybrook Wine Tours. There were plenty of delicious product samples to tempt the taste buds.
The four Tasmanian apprentices commenced their mystery box competition with a great deal of anxious anticipation. From the opening of the box until the final presentation of their products each apprentice was fully immersed in their task of creating four or more valued added products from the contents of the mystery box.
The apprentice competition judges had a difficult task of separating the close scores from each competitor.
Trophies went to:
Winner: James Groves, a 3rd year apprentice from The Sausage Shop
Second place: Bethany Beales, a 2nd year apprentice from Wayside Butchers
Third place: David Johnston, a 4th year apprentice at Classic BFS
The events during Saturday quickly progressed to the presentation function on Saturday night in the Grand Chancellor ballroom. MC Peter Murphy set the scene to what was an enjoyable night for everyone and of course a little extra special for those Sausage King competitors who were successful in taking home a trophy or two.
The competition weekend concluded with the traditional Breakfast with the Butchers on Sunday morning at the Elmslie Winery. Our guest speaker was Australian and world champion axe man David Foster. David gave an inspirational address to the gathering and there was plenty of time for photos with David before the guests returned to the hotel.
The 2011 AMIC National Sausage King Competition will be remembered for the variety of events that were held over the weekend and for the high level of publicity leading up to and following the weekend. The 2012 competition will be held in Victoria and already the plans are in place for what will be the 14th National Sausage King.
Click here for a list of the 2011 National Sausage Kings