When you run a successful family business, one that has been serving its customers well for over 100 years, it can be hard to see how you rate against everyone else. Which means that if you are making the nation's best sausage you may not even know it.
That's exactly what happened to John Young, third generation craft butcher and current proprietor of JJ Young & Sons Butchers with outlets in Celbridge and Clane, Co Kildare.
When his customers kept telling him how good his sausages, made to an old family recipe were he was glad of the praise. When they said they are good enough to win prizes he decided to put them to the test.
And boy is he glad he did!
JJ Young & Sons entered four of their most popular sausages* in the recent Craft Butcher Awards. All four were awarded Gold medals. John also brought home the most coveted Supreme Champion Award, officially making his Beef & Guinness sausage the best in the nation. In addition he picked up Silver and Bronze awards for his Dry Cured Traditional Irish Rashers, his Old Style Dry Cured Loin Bacon and his Home Dry Cured Corned Beef.
John took over the family firm from his late father, Joe, nearly 20 years ago. Since then he has expanded the business, renovating the original shop on Main Street in Celbridge village and opening a Factory Shop at Clane Business Park, Co Kildare. People now come from all over Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Laois, Westmeath, Meath, Carlow and even further afield to stock up on restaurant quality meat, game and poultry at wholesale prices.
"They can't believe the value and quality," John Young says. "Because we sell to many top hotels and restaurants, we buy in volume and can pass on that price advantage to people who visit us at the Factory Shop".
"With Christmas just around the corner households can make their budgets go further by availing of the great value we offer on turkey, goose, steak, venison, poultry, spiced beef and of course, our prize-winning sausages", he says, adding that crown of turkey is this year's trend for Christmas dinner "because there's no waste and it's easier to carve".
Visit JJ Young & Son's factory shop at Unit 9, Clane Industrial Estate, Clane, Co Kildare. Open Thursday - Saturday, 8.30am - 5.00pm. Tel: 045-982111.
* The four types of sausages entered were Venison, Pork & Spanish Onion, Traditional Breakfast and Beef & Guinness.