Managing director Philip Paul watches the first run of Snowbird's new Traditional Lincolnshire Gourmet Sausage as it goes through the production process.

It is the first time such a scheme has been undertaken in the UK by a manufacturer of fully cooked and frozen sausages and the London-based company, part of the VION Food Group, has teamed up with leading pig farmers to deliver a major improvement to the quality of its award winning products.

A specific breed of pig raised on Red Tractor Farm Assured holdings has been selected for this unique operation because it delivers high meat yield, improved quality, total traceability, absolute consistency - and just the right amount of fat to enable Snowbird to make the perfect sausage.

The company has also upgraded its specification to require a significantly greater quantity of shoulder meat in the recipe.

"As sector leader in the market for fully cooked and frozen sausages, we are really excited by this move to embrace the whole food chain, with pig farmers more deeply involved in the whole process of making higher quality sausages and customers welcoming the move," said Snowbird managing director, Philip Paul.

"We have worked for years to deliver the quality of products our customers want so it was a natural extension of this work to involve suppliers and they are excited to have the opportunity to be involved as our quality partners," he added.

Welcoming this move, BPEX Foodservice trade sector manager, Tony Goodger, said: "more and more foodservice businesses are looking to buy pork and pork products that come from assured pigs. By purchasing assured pork products caterers can be confident that the meat used has come from pigs that have been sourced from independently audited farms that meet high animal welfare conditions and offer the reassurance of full traceability."

To celebrate the launch, Snowbird has developed a Traditional Lincolnshire recipe as the new flagship product for its award-winning Gourmet range of sausages which is available exclusively to caterers and ready meal manufacturers. Cumberland, Pork, Pork & Leek, Olde English Pork, Pork & Mustard, Pork and Ale and other recipes are also available.

With a meat content in excess of 75 per cent, the Traditional Lincolnshire Gourmet Sausages have an exciting blend of herbs and spices which include sage, parsley and ground white pepper and are in natural casings.

Fully cooked to a golden brown and frozen at the factory stage, they are ready to heat (or simply defrost) from frozen and meet all Food Standards Authority 2012 requirements for low fat and low salt. Snowbird Gourmet sausages are available in weights from 12.5g to upwards of 150g. The standard link is 60g.