See who snagged the win at New Zealand's sausage awards

A Hamilton supermarket and Auckland butchery have been declared the top dogs of the 2022 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition. Photo / Supplied

A Hamilton supermarket and Auckland butchery have been declared the top dogs of the 2022 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition this evening.

The successful sausages were announced at a special Sausage Mixer event where butchers from across the nation gathered to find out who had taken out the top spot.

The winning sausages' long and arduous journey to supreme status began with a preliminary five days of category judging in August. The judging panel, made up of a squad of butchers, foodies, chefs and industry heavyweights, whittled entries down to the top-scoring sausages.

New World Te Rapa in Hamilton and Zaroa Meats in Auckland jointly beat out 530 entries to claim the supreme award - the judges were unanimous that both sausages had all the qualities they were looking for.

Porsche Davis, of New World Te Rapa, was overwhelmed to snag the win.

"I wasn't expecting this at all. I wasn't expecting to win gold to start with let alone this," he said.

The recipe of the pork sausage that secured the win had recently changed, Davis said, but wouldn't reveal any "trade secrets".

Marc Zabern, of Zaroa Meats, credited his dad as the mastermind behind their award-winning Aoraki Salami.

"My father is the mastermind behind the supreme salami, he's been designing the most incredible sausages for years now and when he created this Wagyu and Venison Salami we knew it was special. It's a taste sensation," said Zabern.

Judge Felicity O'Driscoll, of Cook The Books, described the process of whittling down the entries as "quite a difficult task" due to the "outstanding level of entries".

"There were probably about four or five sausages that really stood out at the supreme judging, so there was much discussion and re-tasting on the day," O'Driscoll said.

"At the end though, it came down to some really fine details between the contenders, with both winners deserving the joint title of supreme sausage maker."

Judge Greig Buckley, of Kai Foods, said the judges were looking for well-made sausages with the right combination of quality ingredients. Photo / Supplied

Fellow judge Greig Buckley, of Kai Foods, said the judges were looking for well-made sausages with the right combination of quality ingredients that will appeal to the market.

"All entries are judged on their aroma – both raw and cooked – appearance, texture and finally the most important – the taste," said Greig.

"The joint winners had it all and should be very proud of the products they have produced."