A crash course in sliced sausage-making from his expert father has led to a Dunoon butcher lifting the fiercely contested Scottish Beef Sliced Sausage Championship 2024.
Newly crowned champion Richard Longster said the title was “the stuff of dreams” as he helped put Dunoon on the food map by winning the national championship for one of the country’s most iconic products.
“It’s all a bit overwhelming,” he said. “This is the title every butcher in Scotland wants and I can’t believe we’ve won it. We’re absolutely thrilled.”
Richard and wife Susanne took over Kents of Dunoon five years ago – a major shift from his 20-plus year career as a gamekeeper in Perthshire.
His father Scott, however, had spent a lifetime in the trade, running a butcher’s business in Dalmuir.
“Dad taught me everything, he could as quickly as he could,” said Richard. “He’s been a butcher since he was 14 years old. So, everything is second nature to him. He is so experienced and knowledgeable, and I couldn’t have done this without him.
“I had to learn on the job and Dad was always popping in to support us. One of the many skills he passed on to me was how to make sliced sausage – a product that would go on to be our biggest seller and now a Scottish Champion.”
Richard admits to “tweaking” his Dad’s recipe slightly to suit changing tastes, with a touch of spice and black pepper adding championship-winning touches to the quality beef brisket sausage mix.
“We know it’s a good sausage, but we never dared hope it would be judged the best in Scotland. Sliced sausage is an iconic Scottish foodstuff – up there with haggis as a national dish – and there’s not a butcher in the land who wouldn’t want to lift this championship title.
“Previous winners have been butchers I admire, with skills I aspire to, so it’s just amazing to be on the roll of honour alongside them.”
Kents of Dunoon beef sliced sausage – or square or Lorne sausage as it is often known as in Scotland – swept the boards at the recent Championships and evaluation staged by Scottish Craft Butchers (SCB) and judged by a raft of experienced trade and consumer experts.
SCB Executive Manager Gordon King said the bar in this year’s competition was set very high with top level entries being submitted by craft butchers from all over the country.
“It’s great to see a small independent craft butcher who pays such care and attention to their product lifting a national award,” he said. “Richard and his team are producing a fantastic beef sliced sausage and it’s just reward for them that the secret is out, and the rest of the world now knows where to source the best in Scotland. It’s a worthy champion.
“Customers will be beating a path to Kents in Dunoon.”
The small workforce at Kents realise they may have to up production of their champion to meet demand.
“We currently make around 100 separate 1,700gram slabs of sliced sausages each week, to meet demand from our local customers and the cafes, restaurants and hotels that we supply nearby,” said Richard.
“But our sausage producer David Walsh and I will happily go into overdrive if more customers want to try out Dunoon’s national championship-winning sliced sausage.”
The Scottish Beef Sliced Sausage Championship 2024 was sponsored by Colin Hewitson Weighing & Food Processing Expertise.
“We’re delighted to be involved with such a prestigious championship and to help recognise and reward the top producers of what is undoubtedly one of the most iconic butcher products in Scotland,” said Colin.
“Sliced sausage is a traditional staple that has fuelled the working day for generations of Scots and, thanks to Scottish Craft Butchers and their robust judging process, we now know where to find the best – ‘doon the watter’ at Kents of Dunoon.”
