Mount Pleasant Butcher came home from the 2023 Charcuterie Excellence Awards with their arms full, snagging nine gold medals and two national awards.
The family-owned country butcher received awards for their bacon, ham, mettwurst, pepperoni, black pudding, white pudding, kabana, smoked turkey and fritz. Their bacon and smoked turkey took it one step further and were awarded National Grand Champion awards.
“We were pretty shocked; to go to the nationals, it is quite an honour,” Mount Pleasant Butcher Owner and Director Jamie Hylan says.
“It is huge for our business and it is really good for our staff as well because the staff are are so passionate. It is really good for South Australia too. All that hard work pays off; I just keep using the motto ‘keep being consistent and greatness will come.'”
“A point where our business is different to other small goods makers is our smokehouse. 99% of butchered small goods makers in Australia have electric steam ovens, and ours are powered by wood. It is old school, it’s a real traditional way of smoking.”
“In the Barossa, there is really only us and another place in Angaston that have a smokehouse like that, but there are not many like that left in Australia. When I brought the shop 21 years ago, that smokehouse was there and I wasn’t really familiar with it and we just learnt how to use it. The flavours are totally different, it is such a natural smoke.”
The 2023 Australian Charcuterie Excellence Awards are the premier awards for the Australian smallgoods and were launched by the Australian Meat Industry Council with awards partners Australian Pork Limited, Cold Xpress and William Angliss Institute.
The awards recognise products of quality and excellence while promoting industry recognition and standards through a media, industry and consumer-facing promotional campaign and are an opportunity to showcase Australian grown and manufactured charcuterie products to the world.
Jamie says the quality of their South Australian female pork is another factor which sets their bacon apart from others, sourced from South Australian businesses Gumshire, Hampshire Pork and Bacon and Brian’s Pork.
“It’s moist and it is still very, very smoky, so a lot smokier than any other bacon from the market, but it is not a chewy bacon, it is quite a soft bacon to eat,” he says.
Jamie brought the store in 2002 and it has since gone from strength to strength, now with 5 trucks on the road and 28 staff over two sites: one in Mount Pleasant and another in Mannum.
“I believe we are never too old to stop learning. I have been among small goods for 35 years, my first ever employee was an apprentice of mine and he is still with us,” he says.
Jamie says Mount Pleasant Butcher has a strong focus on supporting local suppliers and says the business continues to grow.
Visit Mount Pleasant Butcher on Facebook page to learn more.
WHAT: Mount Pleasant Butcher.
WHERE: 98 Melrose St, Mount Pleasant SA, 5235
WHEN: Monday to Friday, 7am – 5:30pm and Saturday, 7am – 11:30am.
