Pattingham black pudding gets top spot at Great British Food Awards

Martin Thomas Butchers, a fifth and sixth generation craft butchers in the village of Pattingham, won the top spot in the Charcuterie category with their traditional black pudding.

The pudding was created in 1997 by Craig Thomas.

He worked with the then owners of A.W. Smith & Sons in Birmingham, which is now part of Dalziel ltd, to alter their basic recipe into what now forms the base of all their multi-winning black puddings.

Craig is a sixth generation butcher and his father Martin ran the shop before him.

Craig and his wife run the business in South Staffordshire where every product they sell from sausage rolls, award winning pork pies, artisan cooked gammons and black puddings.

Their other specialist product is dry salted air dried bacon, which is produced on site.

All lamb and beef is sourced from local Staffordshire and Shropshire farms while the pork comes mainly from Staffordshire suppliers.

Craig is a Member of the National Craft Butchers Executive and director the trade organisation, he is the first from the Wolverhampton and district butchers association to hold that post since the 1960s.

Craig said: "Back then no-one could have expected the awards the product could have achieved over the years.

"Notable firsts include; in 1999 taking first and second at the Birmingham and district butchers competition; 2015 being the first none-Yorkshire winner of the CYBC Yorshire butchers product competition 2016 and 2019 being the UK's only medal winners at IFFA Frankfurt."

The family butchers has beaten supermarket giants such as Marks and Spencer and Co-op to win the title.