Who has Tauranga's next top sausage?

Two Mount Maunganui butchers have been named finalists in a national hunt to find New Zealand's next top sausage.

Gold, silver and bronze medals have been awarded to winning sausages entered in the Devro New Zealand Sausage Competition.

Farmer Jones in Owens Place was awarded gold in the Pre-cooked or Barbecue category for their sausage Big Red.

They will join 21 other gold medalists from 10 other categories in a final showdown in Auckland on October 14.

Farmer Jones was awarded silver for their entry in the Continental Ready-to-eat category for their Cheese Kransky.

Col's Butchery on Maunganui Rd also received silver in the Rounds category for their Black Pudding.

New World Waihi received silver in the Traditional Beef category for their Premium Beef sausage.

Kerry Tyack, Head Judge, said Kiwis could be well satisfied the quality of sausages they were buying continued to increase, as seen by all the judges in the early stages of the competition.

"This year we had more sausages scoring at the top level than ever before. Great combinations of flavours, lower fat and thoughtful use of seasoning means better sausages are available throughout the country.''

Prior to the final, a public tasting will be held at Auckland University of Technology to determine which gold medallist will win over the taste buds of Auckland locals and be named the 2014 People's Choice Award winner.