UK Sausage Week starts sizzling for 2026!
UK Sausage Week starts sizzling for 2026!
UK Sausage Week, the premier annual initiative celebrating a British meal-time staple, will run through the last week of October.
- Retailers, foodservice and butchers across the UK are expected to run in-store promotions and other activities.
- Hundreds of products are entered to be judged for the 2026 competition.
- Over previous years UKSW has received coverage from national media including television, radio, online and print.
The annual week-long initiative runs from Monday 26th October to Sunday 1st November 2026, and will kick off with a competition awards lunch on Monday 26th October, at Butchers’ Hall in London.
The final deadline for product nominations is Friday 7th August 2026. Nominations entered for the national competition are free of charge, and there is no limit to the number of different products that can be entered in different categories.
Winners of the competition will be unveiled at the prestigious awards lunch on Monday 26th October, along with finalists, and all sausage producers and retailers invited to nominate their products into the competition now.
To nominate products, visit www.uksausageweek.com/product-entry.
From the Cumberland to the chipolata, a variety of specialist sausages will be recognised across the awards categories, which include:
- Best Traditional Pork Sausage
- Best Beef Sausage
- Best Lincolnshire Sausage
- Best Cumberland Sausage
- Best Chipolata Sausage
- Best Gluten Free/Free From Sausage
- Best Chicken Sausage
- Best Speciality Sausage
- Best Cocktail Sausage
- Best Frozen Sausage
The awards presentations culminate in the crowing of a new UK Supreme Sausage Champion, awarded to a product deemed by an industry judging panel to be of ‘exceptional quality’, and will be selected from category winners. In 2025, Wicks Manor was crowned the Champion for its Olde English Pork Sausage.
Speaking on the win, Fergus Howie, the managing director of Wicks Manor commented: “To win this award is a game-changer for us. We are so proud of our products that we make, but to say that we produce the UK Supreme Sausage Champion is incredible; a very powerful statement.”
Winners of the UKSW competition have previously reported increased sales and interest in their products following the competition results being announced, and retailers who get involved can maximise on the profile UK Sausage Week creates as the promotion attracts national and local media interest and coverage.
How will you celebrate UK Sausage Week?
UK Sausage Week offers retailers across the UK the chance to spotlight their sausages, and in previous years has seen a fantastic range of initiatives launched as a result – from limited-edition products and foot-long bangers to sausage-eating contests and customer competitions.
In 2025, Mettrick’s Butchers got local schools involved by inviting primary schools to suggest new sausage flavour combinations. Children from local schools submitted their sausage ideas, and Mettrick’s Butchers created one flavour from each school as part of the competition. The winning school received £100, while other participating schools received vouchers from Mettrick’s Butchers.
Newmarket staged its 4th annual Sausage Festival, inviting the public to participate in sausage-themed activities, sample products and even enter a sausage dog competition. Alderson Butchers gave away 200lbs of free sausages as part of its promotions, while Leeds-based Kirkstall Bridge Inn created a sausage-themed menu as part of its celebrations.
Previous years have seen winners appear on ITV’s This Morning, The Chris Evans Breakfast Show and national and local radio stations.
