“It was a surprise to beat so many of the bigger butchers, especially from Sydney,” Mr Orchard said.

The famed snags from Namoi River Meats were invited to take part in the state competition after winning a host of awards at the regional level in August.

Mr Orchards’ three winning entries from the regional event, chicken with poached pear, minted lamb with bush honey and beef, sweet chilli, cheese and onion, were tasted against the best in the state, with two of the entries receiving awards.

In the gourmet section Luke’s beef, sweet chilli, cheese and onion sausages were just one point away from taking out first place.

“I’ve been making them for about six months and they sell out every week so I knew they were pretty popular,” he said.

In the Australian lamb/open section Luke received third place for

 his take on a traditional lamb sausage.

“I decided to jazz this one up using some local honey and it has been selling well so thought it would go alright.”

Sausages have always been a big part of the Namoi River Meats business, with close to 750kg of sausages made weekly.

“Each week we have eight different varieties and I’m always trying new flavour combinations.”