A third-generation Lanarkshire family butcher has won Bakery Product of the Year at the 2026 Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards with a sausage roll whose recipe was perfected by the owners’ mother more than 40 years ago.
S. Collins & Son, based in Muirhead, took the title for its traditional sausage roll at the awards in Glasgow. The win has an unusual twist: the business is best known as an award-winning butcher, yet it beat specialist bakery products to take the bakery category.
A family recipe with a long history
Its sausage roll was shortlisted alongside East Pizzas’ Sourdough Pizza Base and Malcolm Allan’s Family Size Steak Pies. Brothers Stewart and Fraser Collins now run the family business, which was established in 1955.
The sausage meat for the winning product is made by the Collins team using a family recipe perfected by their mother more than four decades ago. It is also one of the shop’s everyday bestsellers.
S. Collins & Son sells more than 60 dozen sausage rolls in an average week – more than 720 a week and over 37,000 a year.
Recognition after 25 years of awards
Stewart Collins, managing director of S. Collins & Son, said: “This award means a huge amount to Fraser and me because there’s a real family story behind the sausage roll. Our mum perfected the recipe more than 40 years ago and we still make the sausage meat ourselves today.”
“We sell more than 60 dozen every week, so this isn’t a product created for a competition. It’s something our customers have been buying and enjoying for generations. We’re butchers first and foremost, which makes winning Bakery Product of the Year particularly special.”
The 2026 Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards marked the 25th anniversary of the event. Products were tasted by an expert judging panel drawn from retail, foodservice and hospitality before the winners were announced.
A long list of honours
The award adds to a long list of recognition for S. Collins & Son. The business has won more than 100 national awards and was named Britain’s Best Butcher Shop in 2022.
Stewart added: “Food trends come and go, but sometimes it’s the simple products, made properly and consistently over many years, that customers love most. More than 40 years after Mum perfected the recipe, we’re still making it and customers are still buying hundreds every week. That makes this award very special.”
The award-winning sausage rolls are available from S. Collins & Son’s Muirhead shop, and online.
