Walter Rose in the Running for ‘ENGLAND’S BEST SIRLOIN STEAK’!

Devizes could soon be known as the place to buy ‘England’s Best Sirloin Steak’ as local catering butcher ‘Walter Rose & Son’ has made it through to the final stage of the inaugural ‘EBLEX Quality Standard Mark Excellence Awards 2015’.

Run by EBLEX, the organisation for beef and lamb levy payers in England and is a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). ‘England’s Best Sirloin Steak’ is one of three competitions to make up the newly launched Quality Standard Mark Excellence Awards 2015. Along with ‘England’s Best Innovative Steak and ‘England’s Best Steak Pie’, the awards recognise steak products that deliver excellent eating qualities and the highest levels of customer satisfaction both in and out of the home.

Butchers, supermarkets and caterers throughout the country sent in entries to be judged by meat industry experts in all three competitions, but only the highest scoring made it through to the final.

Walter Rose & Son entered the ‘Foodservice’ category in England’s Best Sirloin Steak competition and its ‘Sirloin Steak’ was one of just 11 steaks in the category to achieve a prestigious Gold Award.

From those, only the best three sirloin steaks were selected to go through to the final, which means that Walter Rose & Son has a good chance of being crowned winner of the Foodservice category.

There were two other categories in the competition – ‘Independent Retailer’ and ‘Multiple Retailer/Supplier’ – and one of the category winners will go on to be named Overall Champion of England’s Best Sirloin Steak competition.

In the contest, entries were put through their paces with judges marking against set criteria, including aroma, colour, marbling, flavour and juiciness. In addition, scientific ‘shear force’ testing was used to measure tenderness.

Competition organiser, foodservice project manager for EBLEX, Hugh Judd, said: “Sirloin is a prime cut which is one of the nation’s favourite steaks thanks to its fine texture and wonderful flavour. We know there are many excellent examples on sale across the country and we wanted to recognise the very best in the business.

“The competition so far has been extremely tough. Not only did we receive a great number of entries but the quality of sirloin steaks submitted was incredibly high. Without doubt there has been a fantastic display from companies such as Walter Rose & Son. We wish them the very best of luck in the final.”