2026 NCB Product Awards Launch

2026 NCB Product Awards Launch with New Categories Shaped by Members

The popular National Craft Butchers Product Awards return for 2026 – with a clear focus on what members want. We’re delighted to reveal that the 2026 NCB Product Awards will offer three exciting new categories for members to enter. They are:

These additions reflect how butchers shops are evolving and opens the door for a wider range of entries, which now includes cured meats, ready-to-eat items and your best BBQ products. The new categories join the existing line up of:

The aim is simple. Give more businesses the chance to showcase what they do best and recognise the full breadth of craft butchery today.


With 12 categories to enter this year, there’s something for everyone!

Why enter?

Builds trust and confidence for customers

An award win represents expert and independent endorsement of your products and by association, your business. As well as the trophies, winners can use official NCB Product Awards logos and certificates in store and online to demonstrate their success.

Drive sales at the till

An award winning product creates a real buzz of interest amongst consumers. Previous winners have publicised their success on their social media channels and sold out of their award-winning product within hours.

Motivate the team

 Involving members of the team in the process is really motivating and shows your confidence and trust in them. Giving one of your team a chance to shine could reap rewards in terms of staff loyalty too.

Benchmark your products

The awards offer a rare opportunity to find out just how good your products really are. Even if you don’t win, the learnings are invaluable and could lead to simple tweaks that take your products to the next level – and maybe a winning product in future years.

Fees and Judging

You’ll be pleased to know that we have frozen the entry fee, which will remain at £45+VAT per product. It pays to plan ahead too, as the early bird fee is just £35+VAT  offering a significant saving for entries submitted before the early bird deadline of 29th July.

Judging will take place at Harper Adams University, where an experienced panel of industry experts will assess each product through blind tasting. The process is designed to be fair, consistent, and focused on quality. Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards will be given, with top scoring entries going on to compete for the Category Champion and Judges Choice awards

To give yourself the best chance of winning an award, now is the time to start planning. Consider which products best represent your business, make sure recipes are consistent, and think about presentation. The new categories in particular offer a good opportunity to put more of your products in front of the judges.

Timeline

Sponsors & Supporters