October 2017 - Our Traditional Pork Sausages receive a National Award

Judith, Sarah & William are just back from London where our Traditional Pork Sausages received a National Award on Monday 30th October winning the Northern Ireland Traditional Sausage Category at the UK Sausage Week Competition. Our award was presented by antiques expert & TV presenter Eric Knowles at a special celebratory lunch at Plaisterers Hall in London.

This month also marks 30 years since George & Gordon won their first Champion of Champions Sausage Competition at Butchers Hall, London!

George McCartney entered & won his first Competition in 1980. Over the years McCartney's have won every major Sausage Competition in the UK, inc the National Champion of Champions Sausage Competition 3 times. For years McCartney's have been 'Famous for Sausages' but all that was turned on it's head in 2011 when they scooped the Supreme Champion Award at the Great Taste Awards with their Hand Made Corned Beef.

2013

All Ireland Artisan Butcher Awards 

The All Ireland Artisan Butcher Awards where held in October and we achieved a top score of 3 Gold Awards for:

Pork & Marmalade Sausages

Steak & Stilton Pie

Halloween Special - Pumpkin & Bacon Pie

Great Taste Awards 2013

Congratulations to all the team - we've scooped 9 Awards in the 2013 Great Taste Awards

Results:

3 Stars!

Mushroom Leek & Smoked Garlic Tart (Vegetarian) - Made by our Head Chef David Kenny this is available to take home from the Deli Counter & also on our sit in menu as our vegetarian pie option! 

2 Stars!

Merguez Sausage- available to take home from the Buchery

Chowder - this is available to take home from the Deli Counter & also on our sit in menu.

Breakfast Pork Sausage - available to take home from the Buchery

1 Star!

Chocolate Brownie - Gluten Free - Available from our Patisserie Counter to sit in or to go.

Chicken Liver Pate - this is available to take home from the Deli Counter & also on our sit in menu.

White Pudding - this is available to take home from the Deli Counter & also on our sit in menu on our All Day Breakfast.

Corned Silverside - this is available to take home from the Deli Counter.

Chinese Style Pork Ribs - A best seller - available to take home from the Buchery

2012

John McKenna

15/12/2012

Megabite Awards 2012

Commanderie des fins Coustiers du Duche d' Alencon.

Best White Pudding in Ireland in the 39th European Championships in France.

We also picked up the Grand Prize of Honour for Pork Sausages in Europe again judged in France.

All Ireland Artisan Butcher Awards October 2012

We received 3 Gold Awards at the Bank in Newry for our Corned Beef, Steak & Kidney Pies & Award Winning Pork Sausages! Only 3 butchers out of all the entries achieved the maximum award of 3 Golds. 

McCartney's have been awarded 9 Great Taste Awards in 2012

Click the products to view certificates

3 Star Gold - Hand Made Corned Beef
3 Star Gold - Hand Made Corned Pork
2 Star Gold - Steak & Kidney Pie
1 Star Gold - Steak & Onion Pie
1 Star Gold - Chicken & Ham Pie
1 Star Gold - Pork & Leek Sausages
1 Star Gold - Dry Aged Sirloin Steak
1 Star Gold - Chump Steak Roast
1 Star Gold - Cooked Honey Roast Ham 

Out of the 123 3 Star Gold Products 50 were selected as the Top 50 Foods in Britain for 2012. We were the only producer with two products in this elite group with our Hand Made Corned Beef & Hand Made Corned Pork

We were also nominated for the title of Speciality Producer of the year which was a great honour in what is only our second year acheiving GTA success.

Speciality Producer McCartney's of Moira

Speciality Product Hand Made Corned Beef

Speciality Product Hand Made Sweet Corned Pork

Our Corned Beef also featured on the Awards Ceremony menu for the second consectutive year

GTA Menu 2012 Cover

GTA Menu 2012

 

Great Taste Awards 2012

McCartney's have been awarded 9 Great Taste Awards in 2012

3 Star Gold - Hand Made Corned Beef
3 Star Gold - Hand Made Corned Pork
2 Star Gold - Steak & Kidney Pie
1 Star Gold - Steak & Onion Pie
1 Star Gold - Chicken & Ham Pie
1 Star Gold - Pork & Leek Sausages
1 Star Gold - Dry Aged Sirloin Steak
1 Star Gold - Chump Steak Roast
1 Star Gold - Cooked Honey Roast Ham 

From the 8807 entries this year only 123 received a coveted 3* Gold Award - After a further round of judging 50 of these 3* Gold products were then selected as the Top 50 foods in Britain for 2012 which all went forward to the final of the 2012 Great Taste Awards - we were delighted that both of our 3* Gold products made it into the top 50 - we were the only producer with 2 products in this elite final group and were delighted that our Corned Beef achieved the 3 Star status for the second year in a row.

   

National Sausage Competition Birmingham NEC March 2012

George was in Birmingham on March 25th 2012 to enter the National Sausage Competition at the NEC in Birmingham. George who had been enjoying a break from the pressure of Competitions last entered this competition over 10 years ago, but since the Award sucess of 2011 the competion bug seems to be back!!

All seven sausages entered received either a Gold or Silver Award.

Golds:

Beef Sausage with Garden Vegetables

Breakfast Pork

Pork & Banana

Pork with Marmalade

Traditional (Award Winning) Pork

Silver:

Beef Tomato & Caramelised Onion

Oak Smoked Pork

European Angus Cattle Society Annual Steak Tasting Competition

McCartney's were awarded 1st Prize for Sirloin Steaks at the European Angus Cattle Society Annual Steak Tasting Competition, judged ay Loughry College during Feburary the prize giving was held at Tandragee Golf Club.

2011

2011 has been McCartney's most sucessful year to date. We started the year with a trip to Newbury Butchers Fair and came back with 6 Gold & 5 Silver Awards. One of the Golds was for our Hand Made Corned Beef which was scored an amazing 100/100 by the Judge's they simply could not fault it on any level & wrote us a note to say 'Wonderful Product Congratulations' - little did they know what they had started and it was then we decided to give the Great Taste Awards a shot!

Judith & Sarah took a trip across to Newbury in Berkshire in April to attend the National Butchers Fair & Competition were they scooped 6 Gold & 5 Silver Awards between them. Check out the side show below for details of the products that received awards.

     

     

After a summer of waiting anxiously we were named the UK Supreme Champion with our Hand Made Corned Beef! We could barely believe the interest in our Corned Beef from Major TV & Radio appearances and world wide media articles. While a huge online following developed through our mailing list & social media sites with requests for an online shop which opened in November!

Great Taste Awards Supreme Champion 2011

We are delighted to announce that our own Corned Beef was awarded a: 

3 Star Gold

In the Guild of Fine Foods Great Taste Awards in July 2011. Making it through to the final 42 products at London’s Royal Garden Hotel on 5th September where it was awarded:

Best Speciality from Northern Ireland

This award put it into the final 12 products and it was then announced as the:

Great Taste Awards 2011 Supreme Champion

This is McCartney’s biggest win to date defeating close to 7500 fine food entries!

We are truly delighted to have achieved such a prestigious and well respected reward and would like to thank our Staff for their continued hard work and all our Customers for their support.

We have been making our real hand made corned beef since 2007, the idea coming from an old recipe book belonging to George's Grandfather. Originally it was sold alongside a tinned variety that you would find on sale in most delis, but we soon had to stop selling the bought in one as our customers wouldn't go back to eating it after tasting ours! This exceptional product has a fantastic flavour and just the right balance of salt and has already gained quite a following by word of mouth alone.

Then just to round off an amazing year we entered the Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Competition, a competition we hadn't entered for 6 years & were named overall winners with our National Award Winning Pork Sausage proving that it is still the best!

In october we were named The Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Retailer Butcher Shop of the Year for the third time! We were delighted as this award is Judged by mystery shoppers - not something you can prepare for!

Previous Wins in 2006 & 2008

In October 2011 we were named Northern Ireland's Butcher of the Year at the annual Neighbourhood Retailer Awards.

This award means a great deal to us as it is judged by a panel of mystery shoppers who have the same shooping experience as any of our customers. We like the fact that it's a competition you can not prepare for - you simply have to be at your best at all times - which is of course the way it should be.

I don't think any of us are likely to forget 2011 in a hurry! What a year!

2010

Elite Butchers Association Product Evaluation - Gold Award - Chicken & Ham Pie

Elite Butchers Association Product Evaluation - Gold Award - Mango & Pineapple Stuffed Chicken Breast

Elite Butchers Association Product Evaluation - Gold Award - Traditional Pork Sausages

    

2008

Neighbourhood Retailer Butcher's Shop of the Year Awards - Northern Ireland Winner

2007

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition 2nd Prize Gourmet Pork Speciality Sausages - Gordon McCartney

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition 2nd Prize Gourmet Pork Speciality Sausages - George McCartney

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition 3rd Prize  - Gordon McCartney

2006

Neighbourhood Retailer Butcher's Shop of the Year Awards - Northern Ireland Winner

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition Overall National Winner & Housewife's Choice - George McCartney

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition 1st Prize - George McCartney

2004

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition Chef's Choice - George McCartney

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition 1st Prize - George McCartney

2003

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition Chef's Choice - George McCartney

Ulster Pork & Bacon Forum National Sausage Competition 1st Prize - George McCartney

The National Federation of Meat & Food Traders National Sausage Competition - National Silver Award - Beef & Leek - George McCartney

The National Federation of Meat & Food Traders National Sausage Competition - National Bronze Award - Red Thai Lamb - George McCartney

The National Federation of Meat & Food Traders National Sausage Competition - National Bronze Award - Beef Bolognaise - Gordon McCartney

The National Federation of Meat & Food Traders National Sausage Competition - National Bronze Award - Beef & Garden Vegetables - Gordon McCartney

2002

Foodex Meatex Super Sausage Competition - 2nd Place - McCartney's of Moira

Foodex Meatex Super Sausage Competition - 3rd Place - McCartney's of Moira

2000

National Sausage Competition Meatex/Foodex. NEC Birmingham, UK - Supreme Champion - Miss Judith McCartney.

Northern Ireland Champion Sausage Maker National Competition Supreme Champion.

1999

Winner of the Meat Trades Journal Top Shop Award for Northern Ireland 1999

Overall Winner of Top Shop Award UK 1999

Northern Ireland Champion Sausage Maker 

National Federation of Meat and Food Traders UK Competition Manchester. Pork Sausage, Coarse Cut Class 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, Pork Sausage, Fine Cut 1st place and Variety Class, 1st place.

Meat Trades Journal Champion of Champions Sausage Competition - Finalist

1998

National Competition Meatex/Foodex Super Sausage NEC Birmingham UK - Pork Class - 2nd and 3rd place, Beef Class - 1st place, Regional - 1st and 4th place, Speciality - 4th place, Innovative Low Fat - 2nd place.

Meatex/Foodex National Pork Sausage Winners

Northern Ireland Champion Sausage Maker

Meat Trades Journal Champion of Champions Sausage Competition - Finalist

Winner of the Meat Trades Journal Top Shop Award for Northern Ireland 1998

  

1997

Federation of Meat Traders - ROI National Competition, Sausage of the Year Award.

Winner of the Meat Trades Journal Top Shop Award for Northern Ireland 1997 Awarded at the Dorchester Hotel, London February 1998

1996

Federation of Meat Traders - ROI National Competition, Supreme Champion.

1995

Federation of Meat Traders - ROI National Competition - 2nd place. Mansion House, Dublin.

Northern Ireland Champion Sausage Maker National Competition Supreme  Champion.

Federation of Meat Traders - ROI National Competition Supreme Champion.

National Federation of Meat and Food Traders UK National Competition, Harrogate - Meat Trades Fair 1st Pork Class.

1994

Northern Ireland Champion Sausage Maker 

National Competition (Bi-annual) Meatex/Foodex Super Sausage. Winner of both Pork and Speciality classes.

Meat Trades Journal Champion of Champions Sausage Competition - Finalist

1993

Guardian Sausage Quest National Competition. Winner of North Section UK, 3rd overall.

1992

National Competition Meatex/Foodex Super Sausage. 3rd place - Pork Sausages, Birmingham, UK.

1991

Winner Champion of Champions Sausage Competition, Butchers Hall, London, (all the UK major competition winners of the previous 12 months are invited to compete in this competition).

1990

Northern Ireland Champion Sausage Maker

National Competition Meatex/Foodex Super Sausage. Supreme Champion 1st place - Pork, 2nd place - Speciality, 4th place - Pork. NEC Birmingham, UK.

National Competition - London Butchers Retail Association. Second place Speciality class.

Meat and Livestock Commission Meatex Gold Award for Pork Sausage.

1989

Northern Ireland Champion Sausage Maker

1988

Winner of the Epicurean World Masters Chef's Society International Prix d'Excellence (Sausage Competition) Awarded at Hotel Marriot, London.

Meat and Livestock Commission Meatex Gold Award for Pork Sausage, Birmingham UK.

Winner of Champion of Champions Sausage Competition, Butchers Hall, London

1987 

Northern Ireland Champion Sausage Maker

Winner of Champion of Champions Sausage Competition at butchers Hall, London (all UK major competition winners over the previous 12 months are invited to this competition).

1980

George with David Smith on his first competition win in 1980