Mogerleys, Dumfries – July 2015

When George Mogerley arrived from Germany to start the butchers business in 1876 he probably had high hopes that his countrymen's expertise with sausages could shape his business venture. Almost 140 years on, the link between sausage and the name of Mogerley is now firmly established but it is his successors, the Little family who have the sizzling success.

“I was ecstatic to win this recent award. That is now three national titles for sausages” stressed a very proud Gordon Little.

Rightly so as the man with the recipe for success has added the 2015 Scottish Pork Sausage title to the Beef Sausage one he won in 2012, impressively regaining his Pork Sausage title 12 years after first winning it. This confirmation of quality comes 24 years after Gordon came to work in the shop that his father, also called Gordon, had purchased in 1972.

Gordon now has a team of eight working in the business including his wife Amanda, Robert Wilson, Michael McFarlane and two apprentices his nephew Daniel West and Paul McCann. Liz Scott and Alison Brown are part time counter assistants.

Given its connections to Robert Burns, it is no surprise that a butcher in Dumfries has developed a fine trade in haggis. At Mogerleys the production of Scotland's national dish keeps them all working hard but Gordon openly confesses that his sausage trade is even bigger than haggis:-

“Before we won the Pork Sausage competition in 2003 haggis was the biggest seller, now pork links have overtaken the haggis but we still sell a lot. We supply our pork sausages to a lot of restaurants, takeaways, bed and breakfasts. The award winning sausages are important to them, they get repeat customers – that helps them and helps me!”

Gordon claims he gains an advantage with his pursuit of quality:- “We solidly believe if you use the best then you can produce the best. You can see that from awards we have won for our products.

“I have always used Lucas seasoning, I will never change because there is no point now. It would only cause uproar. I always use shoulder pork, nothing else but the secret is in getting the right method. I have a secret ingredient that stops the sausage shrinking.

“It is also Scottish Pork that comes to me from Robertsons in Ardrossan and is supplied to me through Denis Thomson. Scotbeef, Border Meats and PR Duff supply beef and lamb.

Gordon always makes the sausages for the competition, he uses a recipe handed down from his father and dedicated his latest win to his father who lost his fight against cancer in October 2013. “Without his knowledge and guidance I wouldn't be where I am today. It was always great to see him smile when the shop won awards.”

Most of the customers said that they weren't surprised with their butchers latest success but sales have been exceptionally good ever since news of the latest success broke. Gordon revealed the first Saturday was his busiest of the year and then every week since then sales have been up.

“When I first started here my dad only made three kinds of sausages – beef, pork and tomato. Over the years we have added to that to promote my claim to be Sausage King and folk come in just to buy my flavoured sausages.

“Once customers discover that we have good products they come back for more. We don't rip anybody off and we try to give good value for money. I have a customer who comes up from Leeds every three months on a Saturday morning. She usually spends a couple of hundred pounds loading up with blocks of Lorne, sticks of haggis and black pudding, pork links, pies. We do mail order over the phone but we are busy enough in the shop without online sales.”

Attachments:

• MOGERLEYSDUMFRIES100615v2.pdf