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Hawke’s Bay is official beef patty capital of New Zealand after claiming the two beef burger patty titles in the 27th annual Dunninghams Great New Zealand Sausage Competition.
Champion apprentice Rhys Tamanui with Waipawa Butchery's Classic champion burger patties. Photo / Supplied
Waipawa Butchery got one in for small-town New Zealand in the Burger Patties Classic Category, with its Patangata beef patty, while the New World Hastings supermarket butchery got its taste of success in the Burger Patties Flavoured Category, with its beef, cranberry and camembert patty.
Waipawa Butchery carved-up three major honours in all, at the awards ceremony on Tuesday night in Auckland, also claiming silver for its cheese kransky, and bronze for its lamb and mint sausages, as 108 businesses chased the titles across 16 categories, with 800 entries in all, including sausage and mince products.
They followed a further seven category award wins over the years for the butchery now operated by husband and wife team Duncan Smith and Annabel Tapley-Smith, mastering the paddock-to-plate ethos, with fresh, home-grown meat from their Patangata Farm, just 15km from the shop on main street State Highway 2 through the Central Hawke’s Bay town.
It’s not only the product, but also the producer, with butchery apprentice Rhys Tamanui having been acclaimed best butchery apprentice in New Zealand, headed for a World title event in France next year.
“Being able to supply our team with our own farmed produce ensures the consistency across flavours, and from there our products are hand-made with the utmost care,” Duncan Smith said.
Annabel Tapley-Smith said: “It’s a special moment as we recently farewelled Murray Stephens, who was the previous owner of Waipawa Butchery and a gold award winner himself.”
‘It feels rather special to celebrate this win with our team while we reminisce on 76 years of Waipawa Butchery operating out of the same shop. It’s been a labour of love all these years.”
The proof is in the patties for New World Hastings butchery Cissy Morrell (left) and store owner-operator Kirk Mander after their success with their patties at this week's national sausage awards. Photo / Supplied.
In time for Hawke’s Bay Anniversary weekend, the team at Waipawa Butchery will be matching increased demand to ensure locals and passionate grill masters from across New Zealand ordering online can enjoy their award-winning beef patties and sausages.
The New World Hastings success has been put down to the initiative of Cissy Morrell, who as butchery manager for 11 years has been determined to win the patty award “some time,” says HR manager Amy Gibbs.
Morrell and store owner-operator Kirk Mander attended the awards ceremony, the success being the second in recent months after their butchery took second place overall and People’s Choice Best Display at the 2024 Pure South Master Butcher Teams Challenge in August.
Gibbs said: “We are thrilled to share the outstanding achievements of Cissy Morrell and her team with the community. Their recent successes demonstrate exceptional skill and dedication to excellence.”
New World Hastings highlights its commitment to team development through apprenticeships and training, currently with two butchery apprentices and five bakery apprentices.
Century-old Auckland meatery Westmere Butchery received the Supreme Award with its pork and leek sausage, with People’s Choice Award going to Mapari Meats in Mt Wellington, with its venison chorizo sausage, while the other main award outside the sausage categories went to Christchurch butchery Peter Timbs Meats, its Italian meatball being named champion meatball for 2024.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 51 years of journalism experience, 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
