Family Butchery Wins Big With No-Filler Sausages

When Renee Perrett wanted to prove women could butcher as well as men, she probably didn't imagine she'd one day convince her dairy-farming parents to join her dream. But that's exactly what happened in Putāruru, a quiet town where Moos, Baas & Oinks butchery just took home top honors at the Dunninghams Great New Zealand Sausage Competition.

Perrett left school early, tried chefing, then found her calling in butchery when it was still considered a man's trade. After six years apprenticing at Pak 'n Save in Tauranga, she approached her parents Ed and Bridget Hedley with a wild idea: leave their kiwifruit orchard and open a butchery together.

The Hedleys had spent 20 years dairy farming and another 10 growing kiwifruit. They had no butchery background whatsoever. They said yes anyway.

Ed, now in his sixties, even went back to school for his butchery apprenticeship. "It was interesting going to do an apprenticeship as an older student," he laughs, noting he wasn't much younger than his tutors. He'd done home kills and cut up deer for years, but now he learned the fine points.

Twelve years later, the family business is thriving. They won Category Champion for their pure pork sausage and silver for their Cumberland sausage. Family friend Fiona Hart, affectionately called "aunty," joined the team early on and they've stayed tight ever since.

Why This Inspires

The secret to their award-winning bangers isn't complicated or expensive. They simply refuse to use filler products, relying instead on good quality meat and Dunninghams mixes. In a world of shortcuts and cost-cutting, they chose the harder path.

The shop now rotates through 25 different sausage flavors, offering five each week. Recent hits include cheeseburger sausages filled with high melt cheese and pickles, and pork with watercress. But their championship-winning pure pork and herby Cumberland remain customer favorites at $21.99 per kilogram.

Ed's personal favorite isn't even a sausage. Each week he smokes beef and pork roasts for lunch sandwiches: buttered bread, thick slices of steaming meat, and a sprinkle of salt. Sometimes keeping it simple is the winning recipe.

A teenage girl who refused to accept "it's a man's job" just proved that family, quality, and determination still win.