LISHMAN’S Butchers in Ilkley has been crowned overall supreme champion in the Q Guild of Butchers 2020 Smithfield ‘Star’ Awards.

The Leeds Road shop struck diamond by presenting the best product in the Innovative Sausage category with its Chilli Cheese Dogs, which had first picked up a top-ranked 3*** rating.

Judges then pitched the Hotdog against 12 other diamond award winners, before nominating it as the finest in the entire competition. They deemed it “a fantastic looking and tasting product, with a great distribution of ingredients, a lovely taste and the chilli did not overpower the lovely pork flavour.”

Lishman’s describes its Chilli Cheese Dogs as a true Yorkshire Frankfurter made with shoulder pork from RSPCA Freedom Food-accredited pigs, naturally beech smoked, then flavoured with cheddar and jalapenos. Unlike some popular brands of hotdogs, Lishman’s ‘Hotdogs’ contain no mechanically recovered meat.

Lishman’s receive a glass trophy and a voucher from sponsor Dalziel Ltd for products or services.

David Lishman, who is the current Q Guild of Butchers national chairman and runs the multi award-winning shop with his daughter Emma and a 16-strong team, said: “Naturally, we’re over the moon to be chosen as Smithfield ‘Star’ Awards champion of champions in the face of such strong competition from other leading fellow butchers nationwide. It is one of the highest accolades an independent Q Guild butcher can ever hope to attain. I dedicate it to our entire team.”

For the first time this year, the revamped Smithfield ‘Star’ Awards had a brand-new star rating system through which 3***, 2** or 1* certificates were awarded to products achieving a set standard. Diamond awards are then achieved by pitching all the 3*** products against each other to find the ‘Category Champion’

In fact, Lishman’s received eight product awards in total, with two shortlisted as category finalists and three achieving 3***.

Butchers Q Guild General Manager Claire Holland said: “These awards are a great way of showcasing new product ideas and Lishman’s have proved that the hard work in developing these pays off. An outstanding product, their Chilli Cheese Dogs offer stiff competition to many other hot dogs on the market. By using local pork as well, they truly are a regional product to be proud of.”

Smithfield ‘Star’ Award sponsors were Lucas Ingredients, Dalziel, Innovative Food Ingredients, British Charcuterie Live, Weddel Swift, Verstegen, Taste of Game, Scobie & Junor and Institute of Meat.