Eat Game awards quest earns noble endorsement
15th January 2025
The Duke of Northumberland is backing The Inn Collection Group this January as their award-winning venison pie competes for a prestigious title at the 2025 Eat Game Awards.
Having already earned two accolades at the 2024 British Pie Awards, the pie is now featured on specials menus at select inns, marking its public debut. It is also seeking votes to secure a spot as a finalist in the Best Added Value Product or Innovation category.
The carefully hand-crafted pie makes use of produce from The Duke’s estate, with venison shoulder slowly braised in a rich red wine sauce with bacon and prunes and encased in a freshly prepared short crust pastry.
It is the latest game-based dish to make the Northumberland founded company’s menus, as they collaborate with gamekeepers and sporting managers including those at Northumberland Estates to get produce into the food chain.
Alongside venison, pheasant and partridge are also heavily featured, with a purposely created game butchery in Seahouses allowing the group to service demand from its customers with sustainably sourced produce.
It is a drive that is being warmly received by customers, with The Inn Collection Group’s head of food Tom Adlam hailing the strong sales of these dishes that demonstrate a healthy appetite for game,
Tom said: “We are delighted to have made it through to the voting stage of the Eat Game Awards and our looking forward to our customers getting the chance to enjoy this super tasty pie.
“Demand for game dishes across our pubs is huge with 85,000 sold in 2024 alone, showcasing the amazing produce available in Northumberland and beyond is massively important to us.
“We have built great relationships with Northumberland Estates and others to ensure we can access a reliable supply and get game into the food chain and champion all of the fantastically tasty dishes that can be made from it.
“The pie is another showcase for this with a cut of meat that is not often used being the star of the show and making sure that we use as much of the animal as possible that we process at our butchery.”
Available from January 13th the pie will feature at Alnwick’s The Hog’s Head Inn, The Tynemouth Castle Inn, The Seaburn Inn, Yorkshire sites The Black Swan, Helmsley, The Harrogate Inn, The Ripon Inn Whitby’s The Stables, The Pheasant Inn, Bassenthwaite and The Wateredge Inn, Ambleside, with voting open until February 2nd.
To cast a vote for The Inn Collection Group’s pie, visit www.eatgame.co.uk/voting, select the Best Added Value Product or Innovation category and then vote for The Inn Collection Group.