Scottish Pie Awards 2024: Two Falkirk area butchers make finals of world championships

It follows the annual judging day last month when nearly 500 of the best pies on the market were delivered to Dunfermline by 78 of the best butchers, bakers and other pie makers where they were put to the test by 60 pie professionals who have now selected the “best of the best”.

Johnston Butchers of Falkirk and Kinnaird Butcher Shop & Deli of Larbert are both on the shortlist for the prestigious awards.

Judges had to work hard putting every entry to the taste, touch, appearance and smell test across all the categories from the iconic Scotch Pie to Football Pies & Savouries, Macaroni Pie, Steak Pie, Sausage Roll, Hot Savoury, Vegetarian Savoury, Haggis Savoury, Bridie and Apple Pies.

The winner of the Scotch Pie category will be declared world champion along with all Best in Category winners at a prestigious awards lunch on January 16 at the Westerwood Hotel in Cumbernauld hosted by TV personality and long-term pie award presenter Carol Smillie.

Scottish Bakers, the association which supports the interests of Scotland's bakery trade, organises the annual competition to shine a light on the craft skills pie makers demonstrate day in and day out in producing Scotland’s iconic Scotch Pies, football pies, macaroni pies and many many more.

Lesley Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Bakers, said, “This is my first World Championship Scotch Pie Awards as CEO of Scottish Bakers and I have been amazed at the passion of each and every entrant not to mention the creativity, quality and innovation of the entries submitted for consideration by our professional judges.

“Announcing the shortlist is always a great moment as it’s the first time our entrants get an inkling that their pies have been judged as amongst the best in the country and it’s always great to be recognising products which have been lovingly made from scratch from locally sourced ingredients, freshly made daily by skilled craftspeople.”

The organisers thanked awards partner BAKO Group and sponsors AAK, Carr’s Flour, Rondo, Fleming Howden, DMD 2000, Andrew Ingredients, Dalziel Group, Marshalls and Macphie.