The butchers at Bargara Meats have snagged a bevy of accolades at this year’s Australia Meat Industry Council (AMIC) Wide Bay awards.
Up against some tough competition, Bargara Meats won top gong for the following categories: Regional Sausage King Competition for both poultry and traditional Australian beef, and the Regional Smallgoods Competition for their pre-cooked scalded sausage, their leg ham on the bone and their kabana.
Along with the wins Bargara Meats also placed well in several other categories in the AMIC Wide Bay awards, taking home three silvers and two bronzes.
Bargara Meats owner Dan Sauer has been in the industry for almost three decades and said the team was gobsmacked by the recent awards.
“To win five golds is a massive achievement and definitely came as a welcome surprise,” Dan said.
“We are super proud of our butcher shop and team of butchers.
“We have always endeavoured to provide our customers with only the very best.”
Competition comes with taste testing perks
The competition this year was held in Hervey Bay and Dan said it was one of the largest butcher contests with more than 200 entries.
“It's huge really, and to take home these awards makes us so proud of our team and shop,” he said.
“The dedication and hard work for our industry really shone through.
“It was a whole team effort and the butchers really got on board – showing excitement and passion.”
Dan said one of the perks of entering a competition such as the AMIC Wide Bay Awards was the dedication in taste testing each product by his staff before the event.
“We definitely do a lot of ‘quality control’ to be assured that our customers are getting only the very best,” Dan laughed.
“To ensure we get every product to the high standard we are happy with. This helps us all work on our butcher bods!
“Of course, only in the best interest of the butcher shop – best part of the job!
“Kath and I have always said from day one that we would only ever sell and make our absolute favourites. If we love it, our customers will too.”
He said each of the products that entered in this year’s AMIC Wide Bay awards was available to customers in store seven days a week.
Dan said they had only entered a few competitions in the past, and the biggest highlight until now was winning gold in the Australia Pork Mark Bacon award in 2016-17.
“We won first, gold, in Queensland with short cut bacon,” Dan said.
“Then we placed second, silver, nationwide in Australia.
“This was a huge achievement for our family-owned, coastal, local butcher shop.
“Something we are still super proud of – it shows that the even the little guys can achieve big things.”
After winning at the AMIC Wide Bay awards Dan said the team would now strive to do well in the Queensland finals held in Brisbane during October.
“We will be hanging up the knives and dusting off our suits.
“We are invited to now enter the five categories we won,” he said.
“(We’re) really looking forward to it no matter what the outcome. It will be a great evening celebrating our industry with some of the very best.”
Bargara Meats AMIC Wide Bay awards
- Leg Ham on the Bone – Gold
- Traditional beef sausage – Gold
- Poultry Sausage: Thai chicken Basil – Gold
- Precooked Scalded Sausage: Cheese Kransky – Gold
- Precooked Scalded Sausage: Honey and Garlic Kabana – Gold
- Poultry Sausage Chicken, jalapeno and honey – Silver
- Best Butchers Beef Burger – Silver
- Boneless Ham – Silver
- Best Butchers Gourmet Burger Pesto, Haloumi and Lamb Burger – Bronze
- Bacon Rasher – Bronze
