Owned and operated by Josh Ball, the butcher's shop won three awards at the first stage of the national competition, which covered the Mid North Coast area.

Mr Ball, who opened the business in April 2010, said it was the first time he had entered the competition, which is run by the Australian Meat Industry Council.

There are six categories. Mr Ball entered the traditional Australian, Pork, and two of his own recipes in the Gourmet section.

He was over the moon when the judges declared his traditional Australian plain sausage the pick of the bunch.

He will now contest the State Sausage King final later this year against other regional winners.

His pork sausage picked up third place, while his tasty sweet chilli chicken, basil and mozzarella sausage finished runner-up in the gourmet section.

Judging took place in Grafton and the special panel scrutinised the visual appearance, cooked and uncooked, and the palatability (aroma, texture and flavour) of each entry.

“I knew the chicken sausage would go well but it was exciting to see the traditional sausage win,” he said.

“Hopefully they will cook it the right way and it will be great at the State finals.”

When asked about the secret to his recipe success, Mr Ball did not want to give too much away, but he said ‘fresh and lean’ is what he aimed for in each sausage.

“We sell heaps of sausages, especially gourmet ones,” he said.

“We offer a different flavour each week and have about 10 in total and they are very popular.”

The National Sausage King competition is held annually and is generally open to AMIC members only. It is co-ordinated and run by AMIC for the benefit of members. It brings butchers from different regions together allowing them to show off what they do best. 

The competition starts off at a regional level in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia before moving to the State finals and then the national final.