Bangers a smash: Posh sausages drive demand for Shropshire producers

Britain is no longer willing to put up with a humble sausage. Now, customers demand oak-smoked pork, pork and apple, beef and bone marrow and Toulouse varieties.

The public is becoming increasingly discerning as it looks for coarse ground meat that is deliciously succulent and big on flavour.

And the new desire for better sausages has seen a big rise in sales.

New research shows that as a nation we’re buying an extra 4.4 million packs per year – munching our way through an astonishing 1.3 billion bangers in just 12 months.

In Shropshire, sausages are so popular that the county even has its own sausage and cider festival, which takes place at The Buttermarket, in Shrewsbury, each July.

Event organiser Beth Heath, of Shropshire Festivals, said: “Sausages have been big business in Shropshire for many years. The late Graeme Kidd, the former Ludlow mayor, was at the forefront two decades ago when he started sending Ludlow sausages by mail order to customers all over the UK.

“But things have really taken off in recent years and that’s why we started the sausage and cider festival.”

Shropshire’s celebration of sausages features a range of varieties from different butchers. Customers are able to enjoy them along with glasses of cider at Shrewsbury’s Buttermarket.

Mrs Heath added: “We are so lucky in Shropshire to be surrounded by awesome producers of the finest pork and the best sausages, so we thought why not create a festival to celebrate it?

“We threw in some of the country’s top cider producers showing off their greatest creations and created the perfect combination for a sizzling summer day. We even gave our visitors the chance to try a bit of sausage linking on site.”

It’s not just in Shropshire that sausages are becoming increasingly popular.

There are numerous upmarket brands, like Heck and Ginger Pig, while Waitrose, Asda, Tesco and other supermarkets have developed luxury varieties like venison and pork sausages with port, thyme and citrus.

Sales soar for family butcher

Butchers across Shropshire are riding the national trend of increased sausage sales in what is fast becoming considered a must-have as part of gourmet cuisine.

Telford butcher, G N Badley & Sons, is just one of the places that has seen sales of sausages soar.

It has seen a steady increase of sausage sales by five per cent a year.

The family-run business is now making 260lbs of plain pork sausage every week for sale at its shop in Gibbons Road, Trench. A further 20lbs of meat is used for specialised flavoured sausages.

Kay Badley, director of the butchers, said: “Some meats are always coming in and out of fashion, but this is not the case with the great British sausage. They’re a staple of the British household diet and seem to be now more than ever.

“This year in particular, with the hot summer weather encouraging more of us than ever to fire up the barbecue, business has been particularly brisk, and demand for more and more gourmet flavoured sausage continues to grow.”

With the rise in popularity of specialised sausages, it is now selling two different flavoured gourmet sausage recipes each week.

The most popular choices, Kay says, are sage and red onion, and a hot Spanish blend. Other top sellers include cracked black pepper, the Cumberland sausage, old English and a spicy chilli recipe.

All their meat is sourced from farmers around Shropshire and Staffordshire.

“A proper butchers can tell you exactly where their meat has originated from, because they probably unloaded the lorry carrying it themselves,” added Mrs Badley. “We know how every single muscle on an animal works and how best to prepare it for sale. We use only the best cuts of trimmed belly pork.”