ELIZABETHTOWN, PA. — The American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) recently announced the winners of the 2025 DFV-AAMP Quality Competition for sausage and ham. 

The event was held at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, in partnership with the German Butchers Association (Deutscher Fleischer-Verband or DFV) with more than 630 entries from AAMP members.

Judging for the competition took place at Kildee Hall which holds the ISU Meat Laboratory.

Unlike American cured meat competitions, the products were not judged against the other entries. Each item starts with 50 points and is evaluated on exterior factors, consistency, smell and taste. Each defect deducts points. 

After the evaluation, products received gold, silver, or bronze medals – or no medal – based on the points. A product judged to have no defects and retain its 50 points is given a gold medal. Participants with at least five gold medals will also be awarded a Cup of Honour.

Den’s Country Meats, Table Rock, Neb., took home first place in both categories with 35 gold medals in sausage categories and 27 gold medals in ham categories. Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage Co., Tulare, Calif., took home second place with 28 gold medals in sausage and 19 in ham. 

“Judges from the DFV traveled thousands of miles to evaluate our members’ products, and the AAMP operators delivered with outstanding quality and taste,” said Chris Young, executive director of AAMP. “A total of 610 medals were awarded at the Quality Competition. Of those, 446 products won gold medals. Congratulations to our participants for an outstanding showing, particularly to Dennis Schaardt of Den’s Country Meats, Danny Mendes of Tulare Locker & Sausage Co., and their teams.”

DFV representatives will hold an awards ceremony during the IFFA show on May 6 in Frankfurt, Germany. AAMP will also present the awards during its annual convention in Kansas City, Mo., in July for those who could not attend the event in Germany.

A full list of gold medal winners is available on the AAMP website.