2005 SCOTTISH HAGGIS CHAMPIONSHIP

James Pirie & Son from Newtyle in
Angus beat off the competition from 84 haggis makers and 80 pork sausage
makers to take both titles. In a blind tasting, their haggis and sausage
took first the two East of Scotland regional titles, then both overall
Scottish titles pitched against 6 regional finalists.

The Scottish Haggis Master competition is
sponsored by Grampian Oat Products, and the Scottish Pork Sausage
competition is sponsored by Lucas Ingredients.

James Pirie and Son was established in
1960. Founder Jim Pirie is Scotland's oldest working butcher, and has
worked an incredible 72 years in the trade. He runs the business along
with his son Alan, and three other staff.

“We are absolutely thrilled with
this success,” said Jim Pirie. “This is the 95^th
award that we have won, and we can't believe that we have taken both
Scottish Haggis Master and Scottish Pork Sausage Champion titles in the
same year. Ours is very much a family business, and we involve the whole
family in our product tastings, so we are all equally delighted that the
judges loved our haggis and pork sausage recipes. Years ago, we only made
haggis in January and November, but
our customers now enjoy it year-round. We already send our haggis all over
the country, and hopefully this title may mean that we will get requests
from even further afield in the future.”

Douglas Scott, Chief Executive of the
SFMTA said: “This is the first time ever that the same butcher has
taken both of these prestigious titles in the same year. It is hard enough
to win one of these titles but to win them both on the one day is
astonishing. Jim and Alan and their team are consistently innovative and
are a credit to the Scottish meat trade.”

Jim Pirie and son Alan collecting their
silverwareÂ

Competition sponsored by
Grampian Oat Products

West of Scotland Champion