A DEVON sausage manufacturer supplying establishments across the county and further afield, including Hong Kong, has been recognised for its innovation.

Westaway Sausages of Newton Abbot brought home one of the major awards from the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards 2023.

A family-run company trading for more than a century, Westaway won the ‘UK Meat, Seafood and Poultry Manufacturer of the Year’.

The company rubbed shoulders with two of the biggest meat processors in the UK, yet, in spite of this, Westaway impressed the judges such that the Kingsteignton-based company came out on top.

Judges were impressed with Westaway’s implementation of sustainable card trays in their sausage packaging.

Charles Baughan from Westaways said: ‘We are showing what is possible, we are showing that sustainability makes both environmental and business sense.

‘I am so proud that our small team from Devon has been recognised.

‘As a small company we do not have the resources of larger companies but we have shown that we can challenge existing practice and improve the sustainability of our sector.’

Ever on the cutting edge of things, Westaway have installed a new, high-speed producation line, which uses artificial intelligence to control and manage the output of several different sausage types.

And success in the sausage business has enabled Westaway to take an active role in supporting the wider Newton Abbot communtiy.

Each week the company donates its surplus stock to Homeless in Teignbridge Supoort, otherwise known as HITS, to enable the charity to provide meals to those in need at no cost.

Adjacent to its factory in Kingsteignton lies the home of Newton Abbot RFC, which Westaways is a principal partner, taking a hands on role in the community venture club.

The collection of self-seeded oaks, around 1,000 or so a year, from council verges, and other areas of land where they would otherwise not grow to maturity, is another venture of Westaway’s.

Westaway then grow these using compost from packaging waste, before giving them away as mature saplings to schools and local authorities.