The butchers won an award for two separate categories
A Merseyside butcher has been recognised as the best in the country for two categories by the National Craft Butchers Product Awards 2024. National Craft Butchers hold annual competitions which are open to all butchers in the UK.
Butchers can win on a range of categories, including traditional sausage, innovative sausage and Judges’ Choice award. Muffs The Butchers on The Cross, Bromborough, won two separate awards – Best Black Pudding and Best 30 Minute Meal.
The family-run business, run by John Muff, was first opened by John’s dad and grandad in 1974. John Muff told the ECHO: “We knew we were in the running, but we weren’t expecting to win two category awards.”
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John’s butchers offers a “Traybake Trilogy” – Guinness flavoured chicken wings, salt and pepper ribs and truffle and parmesan fries. The meals are baked in the oven and are ready in half an hour.
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John said: “I think our unique selling point is keeping up with current trends. We’ve moved into the ready meal market. People have changed the way they eat. There’s less people cooking from scratch now.
“A lot of people are busy working so we offer them the full meal – all the meat portions, whether it’s chicken, beef or lamb, stir-frys, curries. We do vegetables as side dishes as well.
“We do deals on them. So people will fly in from work, pick up a couple of trays, mix and match and make their own ready meal.” John, who used to be a chef, works alongside a team of butchers who also come from a chef background.
John added: “We have a lot of input from different fields. We’ve got some really high-skilled people who work for us as well. People crossing over from supermarket meat say they can absolutely tell the difference.”
“We’re absolutely delighted. These competitions have hundreds of applicants every year. I’m made up, not only for the business but for the whole team. Everyone plays their part in it and everyone’s absolutely invested in the results.
“We always take a lot of time to make sure people are having an input. Even if they’re not physically working on a product, they’re always giving their opinions and feedback on the cooking, trying to improve all the time. It’s a joint effort between the whole team. Everyone’s absolutely delighted.”
