Negative press about sausages prompts supply chain scrutiny

09-Apr-2018 - Last updated on 09-Apr-2018 at 11:20 GMT

Retail moves towards cleaner labelling for sausages have been fuelled by growing demand for premium varieties

Provenance and a more handcrafted appearance are driving a growing premium sausage category, but with provenance has come a greater need for transparency throughout the supply chain, according to collagen casings firm Devro.

“Sausage continued to have its fair share of bad press in 2017 and, following these stories, much focus is now placed on the supply chain of ingredients,” Lee Hamilton, UK and Ireland sales director at collagen casings manufacturer Devro, told Food Manufacture.

“Retailers are trying to do this by ensuring transparency and honesty with the supply chain in a move towards cleaner labelling.”

Traceability

According to Hamilton, Devro has tailored its traceability proposition to meet these requirements. “We are the only UK-based collagen manufacturer and, for our bovine collagen range, we use only UK and Irish-approved hides with traceability from farm.

“We additionally produce a ‘pork’ collagen range, which allows sausage manufacturers to provide a ‘pork on pork’ offering with the same traceability.”

The company reports strong demand for its Select-F range from the premium sausage sector, including award-winning butchers and supermarket black tray brands.

For more on the issues surrounding sausages, burgers and food forming, look out for Food Manufacture’s feature in the April issue, p17-18.