THERE’S a fresh face behind the counter of Portland’s Percy Street butchers, now called The Uppercut, but the shop continues to churn out prize winning product.

Business owner and chief sausage maker Kobe Webster’s Aussie lamb and mint snags won their category, among half a dozen podium finishing sausages and burger entries in various categories of the Australian Meat Industry Council’s South West Victoria regional sausage king competition.

That means Mr Webster and his first place winner are off to the ‘butcher’s Brownlow’, the state final for the competition on October 28.

“Hopefully we get called out and win the best lamb snag in the state, but who knows,” he said.

Mr Webster said his predecessor, Andrew ‘Flash’ Welfare set a high standard with his regular wins in the competition, including the state’s top chicken sausage last year, before he hung up the knives in March.

“Flash always did well, he’s got a lot of wins under his belt, so it’s good to keep that tradition going,” Mr Webster said.

“We also got second with our beef sausages and the pork sausages and the beef and onion burger as well, then we got bronze with the jalapeno and cheese burgers and the country chicken snags.”

He is not just resting on the quality oof the recipes Flash left behind either.

“Every single sausage recipe got changed,” Mr Webster said.

“I thought I would keep (the old recipes), but then I thought, ‘nah I want to do my own thing’, so they are all new.”

“We've expanded on the oven ready products as well.

“We’re trying to get right into making it convenient people just to come in and grab something to throw in the oven after work.

“But we've kept a lot of the traditional cuts, and we’ll never step away from all that because that's what a butcher shop should be.”

It’s a big week for the shop, with Grand Final day, in the eyes of many, signalling the return of BBQ weather.

“We’ve been flat out, it’s amazing what a bit of sun can do,” Mr Webster said.