A sizzling deal for Hellbent’s new sausages

By Sam Butler

HELLBENT, the Northern Ireland producer of South African-style meat products, has won a significant contract for Henderson Group stores here such as Eurospar and Spar for original sausages.

The innovation-led company, based in Belfast, has introduced original Boerewors South African spicy sausages with white and black pudding flavours.

And the small company has also been shortlisted for the final stage of the sausage category in the influential Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards (IFQA) which will be held in Dublin later in the year.

Louis Ludik, who formed the business with fellow South African rugby player Schalke van der Merwe, was “thrilled to be shortlisted”.

“IFQA is a competition which is closely watched by retailers throughout Ireland and in Great Britain. Being shortlisted is another exciting development for us in our journey to develop a market leading enterprise.”

Hellbent was shortlisted in the prestigious all-Ireland awards for its South African Chakalata coiled beef sausages. The distinctive sausages are made from 90 percent Irish beef seasoned with authentic South African Chakalaka curry spice along with onions and tomatoes.

Chakalaka spice is popular throughout South Africa for spicy meals including breads, stews and curries.

The distinctive sausages are already on sale in over 200 Lidl supermarkets in Northern Ireland and the Republic, providing total island coverage for the Northern Ireland company.

The new sausages with white and black pudding flavours represent another important innovation for Hellbent, which was established by rugby stars Louis and Schalk in March 2018 to develop a range of meat products including South African style boerewors beef sausages, burgers and meat balls.

The innovation-led company subsequently created Irish pork products with South African flavours which attracted business from Tesco Northern Ireland.

The company supplies its products to the Henderson Group, Northern Ireland’s biggest food wholesaler which also supplies Eurospar and Spar stores.

Louis continues: “We decided to develop separate sausages featuring black and white pudding flavours which are well-established in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.

“We were delighted when Henderson Group, Northern Ireland’s biggest food wholesaler decided to list these for many local stores,” he adds.