Cumbrian butcher’s burger hailed best in the UK

Cranston’s bagged the top honour at this year’s Sithfield Awards, announced at Butcher’s Hall in London last week.

Its topside and cheddar burger won the Platinum Smithfield Award and was crowned best at the awards organised annually by the Q Guild of Butchers, widely recognised as the meat trade’s most high-profile and challenging product evaluation.

The prestigious Smithfield Platinum Award 2024 and overall winner is chosen from a shortlist of Diamond Award winners and this year was judged on the morning of the awards by Irish butcher Pat Whelan.

Mr Whelan described Cranston’s burger as ‘inspiring’ and said: “The most interesting thing is that it’s made with topside of beef, and you’re not expecting it.

“It’s a great example of sustainability by using whole carcass butchery and elevating different cuts to make them relevant.

“It’s inspiring in its own way and is an unbelievable result from using topside of beef.

“It’s a product that will appeal to a lot of people – for me, it’s a stand-out product.”

The Cumbrian butcher’s Best Smoked Streaky Bacon was also awarded Gold status at the awards, while its Spicy Lamb King Kebab and Cumberland Sausage with Mr Vikki’s Mango Chutney were awarded Silver.

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Gordon Wallace, Q Guild manager, said: “This product is exactly what our awards seeks to recognise.

“Winning this award, alongside additional Gold and Silver awards is an outstanding achievement for Cranston’s.”

Peter Potts, retail area manager at Cranston’s, said: “It’s one of our hero products as we go through the summer and it’s one of the products our customers really love.

“It started out as a summer-only product and due to its popularity we now sell it all year round.

“It’s not a complicated product but the simplicity of it speaks volumes.

“We use good cheddar, a good local chutney and beef from our local farm which wins out in the end.”