Listening to ideas from his teenage daughters has paid off for Papamoa butcher Kurt Thomson, who has won two awards in this year’s Great New Zealand Sausage Competition.

Kurt, who opened Thomson's Butchery at Papamoa Plaza barely six months ago,  returned from the competition in Auckland with an elite gold medal for his San Choy Bow Sausage, and a bronze medal for his Pork Belly Burger Pattie.

The San Choy Bow Sausage won in the ‘Flavours of the World’ category. Kurt says it was inspired by an Asian dish served in lettuce cup leaves, that his daughters Laila Thomson, 14, and Maya Thomson, 12, say is a favourite of theirs.

“They love Asian food and said to me to put it into a sausage.”

Amongst the Asian flavours used in the award-winning sausage are soy sauce, ginger and water chestnuts.

“We made it as a new one for the competition, but have been trialling it [in the shop] for a couple of months. It’s been selling well, and we had received feedback, with some saying ‘you’ll receive an award for it’,” says Kurt.

“The staff have made a heap on Wednesday to sell today.”

Kurt says with this year’s competition receiving a record number of entries from around the country, he is “pretty stoked” and very proud to have been chosen to have the best sausage in the country for that category and receive the award for third best burger patty in the country too.

With his free range pork belly burger pattie, he kept the mince chunky and says he kept it basic using salt, spices, herbs and spring onion.

This year, the competition broke all previous records with an astounding 646 entries, representing the craftsmanship of 116 producers across the 14 sausage categories. Included in the line-up was a mince category for burger patties and meatballs. These two categories turned out 12 medals for burger patties and 3 medals for meatballs.

Kurt Thomson's two awards. Photo: Supplied.

Kurt last entered the Great New Zealand Sausage Competition four years ago, coincidentally also winning awards in two categories.

His pork belly cashew dumpling sausage won gold and his chicken margarita sausage won silver. The chicken margarita sausage is made from free range chicken breast, spices, herbs, baby spinach, mozzarella cheese and roasted capsicum, while he says his pork belly cashew dumpling sausage tastes exactly like a pork dumpling.

“I do it because it’s a challenge. I love creating new sausages. We still do the standard beef and pork and its good putting them up against other butchers around the country to see how you go."

He took over his current location in April this year, rebranding following butcher Doug Jarvis closing his business there. Kurt used to have his own shop in central Tauranga, and also used to work for Doug.

“A big thanks to my awesome staff, amazing customers and local community, and also to my amazing family! Without all your support then we wouldn’t achieve these goals. I’m so very grateful for all the amazing people I have around me at the moment.”

The gold medal award-winning San Choy Bow Sausage. Photo: Supplied.

At Thomson’s Butcher, you can also find original pies, English pork pies, pasties, which he has stocked up along with the award winners ready for Labour Weekend barbecues. Amongst them shoppers may also spot the smoky beef brisket with Borossa Valley Shiraz and other popular flavours.

“With Labour Weekend coming up and summer just around the corner, if you are looking for the country’s best sausages and burger patties to enjoy on the barbecue then you now know where to find them," says Kurt.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you all in store to try these out.”

Kiwi Fresh Meats

Kurt is not the only Tauranga butcher to put the city on the map. Gate Pa's Kiwi Fresh Meats, owned by Debbie and Jason Pears, has also taken out two awards in the annual competition.

Their Chilli Cheese Griller is a gold elite category winner, and they have won silver with their Bacon Cheese Bites.

The Great New Zealand Sausage competition

The Great New Zealand Sausage competition has been running for 26 years and is the pinnacle for sausage and small goods producers and retailers in New Zealand. The competition’s mission is to seek out New Zealand's best and tastiest sausages, burger patties and meatballs. Sausage producers from across the country perfect their recipes in preparation for the competition in the hope of being announced the Supreme Winner.

The journey to supreme status was a long and rigorous process with the judging taking place in two stages. The first round of category judging was done across six days with 17 panels of judges.  Each panel was made up of a technical judge and two aesthetic judges.  Entries were judged on their technical composition, aroma, appearance, texture and most importantly – the taste.

The second stage of judging brought the top-scoring Gold Elite Category winning products to a supreme judging day, where they were all rejudged to find New Zealand’s top sausage.

Well known food writer and competition judge, Kathy Paterson said there was quite a buzz around the judging table this year with some innovative flavour combinations, but it was a pure lamb sausage that took out the top spot.

Supreme Winner

Sam’s Butchery in Silverdale has been announced as the Supreme Winner in the 2023 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition. 

‘Lamb Delight’ was the successful sausage announced at a special Sausage Mixer Awards this evening where butchers from across the nation gathered to find out who had snagged the top spot. 

Sam Nadason, owner of Sam’s Butchery in Silverdale says he thinks the secret to his winning entry is “taking the time to get the basics right, concentrating on perfecting the flavours and years of experience.”

“My grandson was born last week too, and I think he’s brought me good luck!”

 “It can be quite tricky creating a single meat sausage, but this was an incredibly well-made sausage with a good balance of meat and fat,” says Kathy. “The flavour of the lamb really shone through with just a hint of mint to add freshness - it was sensational.”

Fellow judge and butcher, Brian Everton says from a technical point of view Sam’s entry was the perfect ‘grind’ or texture that made it so good. 

“Using a premium lamb product would have been key in creating this stand out sausage.”

2023 People’s Choice Award Winner

‘Wagyu Beef and Roasted Bell Pepper’ from Westmere Butchery, Auckland has won the 2023 People’s Choice Award.

The People’s Choice Award involves the six highest scoring sausages from the supreme judging being tasted and scored by the general public at a special sausage barbecue event. This year's event took place on September 28 at The Goodside in Takapuna, with the 'People's Choice Winner' determined by anonymous public scoring.

The announcement of New Zealand's top sausages, burger patties, and meatballs couldn't be timed more perfectly, coinciding with the nationwide ritual of preparing barbecues as summer approaches.

As Kiwis dust off their grills, they now have a trusted source of where to find New Zealand’s top snarlers, ensuring summer barbeques will be elevated to a sizzling success.

A full geographical list of the medal-winning sausages is available here.

The Great New Zealand Sausage Competition is proudly supported by Big Chill, Caspak, Dunninghams, Kiwi Labels, Multivac Handtmann and Pact Packaging.

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