Superquinn sausages no longer taste as nice

Zoot1530

To make 2020 even worse, the Superquinn Sausage has changed, yuk. the recipe
must have been altered. not nice at all. Shame on you supervalu/musgraves or whoever you are.

Dizzyblonde

We stopped using them ages ago, and for years they were our family's favourite.

andrew1977

Yip , same here , gave up on them a good while ago too , rotten they are now , no different to any supermarket sausage .
Butchers for me now .

L1011

After whatever the first cheapening measure was, we did a test of sorts and settled on Clonakilty - weirdly we don't actually like their pudding as much as a few rivals (Kellys of Newport is our normal choice).

Everyones tastes differ on this, but if you've got the time - and who doesn't this time of year - grab a few packs from different brands and gorge yourself senseless in the name of food science.

Cakerbaker

After trying a few we now like either Tesco finest or Aldi specially selected. Both have a high pork content.

White Clover

Would agree that the Superquinn sausages are gone rank. Clonakilty is the sausage of choice now, McCarthy's (Kanturk) white pudding and Athea black pudding.
Anyone here tried Inch house (Tipperary) pudding?

killbillvol2

L1011 wrote: »

After whatever the first cheapening measure was, we did a test of sorts and settled on Clonakilty - weirdly we don't actually like their pudding as much as a few rivals (Kellys of Newport is our normal choice).

Everyones tastes differ on this, but if you've got the time - and who doesn't this time of year - grab a few packs from different brands and gorge yourself senseless in the name of food science.

I'm with you on Kelly's for the black pudding. Kearn's were my sausage of choice but haven't seen them since I moved back to Waterford. Plenty of good butchers around though.

rubadub

I wondered if they got rid of the MSG due to the common backlash against it.

It's still there, but I reckon it might have been higher on the list before but cannot find an old ingredients list. (i.e. they list in order of greatest % first)

https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/meat-poultry-sausages-superquinn-pork-492-g-/p-1349780001

Back when they were out first I think they were only in the butchers counter so likely exempt from revealing the ingredients or nutritional info so could hide the MSG content or salt content easily.

I would also imagine they have cheapened out on the spices but I would say they used to be loaded with MSG.

Some other brands have it higher on the list.

the beer revolu

rubadub wrote: »

I wondered if they got rid of the MSG due to the common backlash against it.

It's still there, but I reckon it might have been higher on the list before but cannot find an old ingredients list. (i.e. they list in order of greatest % first)

https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/meat-poultry-sausages-superquinn-pork-492-g-/p-1349780001

Back when they were out first I think they were only in the butchers counter so likely exempt from revealing the ingredients or nutritional info so could hide the MSG content or salt content easily.

I would also imagine they have cheapened out on the spices but I would say they used to be loaded with MSG.

Some other brands have it higher on the list.

This might be the explanation I'm looking for.
As someone who didn't grow up with sq sausages, I could never understand the almost fanatical love for them. When I did get to taste them, they seemed just like any other reasonable quality mass produced sausages to me - on a par with Clonakilty Ispiní or Denny Gold Medal. I couldn't see what made them any different.

Tesco finest (Irish breakfast, summer thyme or Cumberland) are the sausages of choice in our house these days.

Faith

Mod note: I edited the thread title for clarity.

Beechwoodspark

Zoot1530 wrote: »

To make 2020 even worse, the Superquinn Sausage has changed, yuk. the recipe
must have been altered. not nice at all. Shame on you supervalu/musgraves or whoever you are.

I noticed the change maybe 5 years ago not long after SuperValu took over the brand. The recipe was changed then and the sausages were never as good. Both the flavour and the texture changed.

Aldi special selected own brand (you get 12 in packet) are quite decent. Not as good as the original superquinn sausies but better than most of the others on the market

steinbock123

Not mad about clonakilty sausages.
The Aldi premium are the nearest equivalent to the old SQ ones IMHO.

punisher5112

Definitely changed.....

Not only that do you remember the bread and rolls done fresh, these were massive oh and the superquinn own brand cakes too....

Musgrave cheap out on everything but still make huge profits.

Such a pity it changed

andekwarhola

They were never as good as people said, same with Clonakilty. And overpriced. Just buy them and puddings from a decent butchers.

the beer revolu

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

I noticed the change maybe 5 years ago not long after SuperValu took over the brand.

It's longer than you think.
Musgrove took over in 2011

jamesbondings

the beer revolu wrote: »

It's longer than you think.
Musgrove took over in 2011

But didn't make huge changes for a few years.

I'm with the better half 9 years, the local superquin didn't change to supervalu until after I was with her. Maybe a year or two in.

Rrrrrr2

Super valu/Musgraves destroyed superquinn- they just gobbled it up for the market share and store presence. My local one bares zero relation to the store that went before. I still miss it as you could get lovely food for a bit extra

the beer revolu

andekwarhola wrote: »

They were never as good as people said, same with Clonakilty. And overpriced. Just buy them and puddings from a decent butchers.

In my experience, butcher sausages can be very inconsistent. Sometimes fantastic, sometimes too salty, sometimes too wet, etc.
And I'm going on butchers famous for their sausages.
Obviously, I can't speak for all butchers.

AutoTuning

I wonder though is it just that our standards have gone up and we are being nostalgic about some old 80s / 90s thing?

To me, Superquinn sausages are from the days when deli counter pizzas were the height of sophistication and would now be considered awful.

SuperValu has excellent sausages, they’re just not those ones. They’ll typically have a load of artisanal and smaller brands, but their own Signature Tastes sausages are far nicer than the Superquinn nostalgia packs.

the beer revolu

Rrrrrr2 wrote: »

Super valu/Musgraves destroyed superquinn- they just gobbled it up for the market share and store presence. My local one bares zero relation to the store that went before. I still miss it as you could get lovely food for a bit extra

The reality is that it also went out of business.
It's a shame but that's economics.
Why would supervalu succeed doing the same thing that sq did when sq failed?

Planet X

Have been very tempted to start making my own sausages........initial outlay can be a bit stiff, for good equipment from the likes of,

https://www.weschenfelder.co.uk/butchers-equipment.html

.....I know it would be a game changer but I've been holding off for a few years now.

Hmmmmm.........

So many gadgets knocking around the kitchen.......I hate that. Pasta rollers, tortilla maker, etc etc etc

the beer revolu

Planet X wrote: »

Have been very tempted to start making my own sausages........initial outlay can be a bit stiff, for good equipment from the likes of,

https://www.weschenfelder.co.uk/butchers-equipment.html

.....I know it would be a game changer but I've been holding off for a few years now.

Hmmmmm.........

So many gadgets knocking around the kitchen.......I hate that. Pasta rollers, tortilla maker, etc etc etc

Unless you eat a whole lot of sausages, it's really not worth the effort. I know this from experience!

Also, if you do, don't cheap out on the mincer. I know this from experience.

Deep Thought

Same as.. we had them for decades

Tesco finest or Aldi do us now.

AutoTuning

the beer revolu wrote: »

The reality is that it also went out of business.
It's a shame but that's economics.
Why would supervalu succeed doing the same thing that sq did when sq failed?

I used to shop in Superquinn in Blackrock in Dublin and I really don’t see the what all the hype was about. It was a nicer store in the 1990s than the competition but the market changed and the quality went up elsewhere.

SuperValu stores can be excellent, but they vary. For example in Cork, their store (or rather Ryan’s store) in Glanmire stocks things like locally grown bagged salad that is just vastly superior to anything I can get anywhere else, including in M&S. Their range of sausages also includes O’Flynn’s from the English market for example and I can pick up everything from sauces I can’t find anywhere else, like for example at Xmas I needed a good quality orange sauce, which they had. Their Italian food range is far superior to anyone else etc etc. Cheese selection is much better.

Some of the SuperValu stores really are excellent, like the one in Clonakilty even has a full spice bar where you can close your own curry spices (loose) and create all sorts of interesting stuff.

Dunnes revamped stores are also phenomenal at the moment. The delis, butchers and Sheridans cheese counters and so on.

SpacialNeeds

O'Flynn's.

They’re not as good but I wouldn’t go even close to as far as calling them rank, they’re still better than a lot of what’s out there.

AutoTuning

SpacialNeeds wrote: »

O'Flynn's.

Typo on iPhone ... it has a new habit of retrospectively changing things you’ve typed to entirely different words that it thinks are in context. AI isn’t as useful as they seem to think it is.

stimpson

The

the beer revolu wrote: »

In my experience, butcher sausages can be very inconsistent. Sometimes fantastic, sometimes too salty, sometimes too wet, etc.
And I'm going on butchers famous for their sausages.
Obviously, I can't speak for all butchers.

Depends on the butcher. My missus started buying the €10 breakfast packs from FX Buckley’s. All of their pork is free range and the quality is far above anything in the supermarkets. They are 100% consistent too.

AndyBoBandy

SuperValu’s that were always a SuperValu are sh1te.
The ones that were previously Superquinn’s are still decent enough. Particularly for fresh bread.

Case in point is the SuperValu in Northside Shopping Centre. My mother lives in Artane so I’d still drop in once a week as I’m passing for some fresh bread* as it’s still all the original Superquinn bakers and ovens.... (despite Northside Shopping Centre being an absolute sh1thole kip)

*since Covid the fresh bread isn’t as crisply anymore as they are using plastic bags for the bread, and not the perforated plastic bags they used to use that let the bread ‘breathe’. The trouble is they bag the bread when it’s still warm so there’s a lot of condensation in the bag which leads to soft crusted bread.

I’d still pick up the Superquinn sausages every now and again, but they are definitely no longer the ‘original’ version..... Clonakilty ones are decent enough followed by Keary’s

the beer revolu

AutoTuning wrote: »

I used to shop in Superquinn in Blackrock in Dublin and I really don’t see the what all the hype was about. It was a nicer store in the 1990s than the competition but the market changed and the quality went up elsewhere.

SuperValu stores can be excellent, but they vary. For example in Cork, their store (or rather Ryan’s store) in Glanmire stocks things like locally grown bagged salad that is just vastly superior to anything I can get anywhere else, including in M&S. Their range of sausages also includes O’Fynn’s from the English market for example and I can pick up everything from sauces I can’t find anywhere else, like for example at Xmas I needed a good quality orange sauce, which they had. Their Italian food range is far superior to anyone else etc etc.

Yes, individual sv stores can be brilliant.
Clonakilty, skibbereen, etc but the one in Cork City Centre is rubbish and has been since sv took it over.
If the sq stores were taken over by enterprising franchisees, they might have fared better but sv took over them directly. I guess customers saw a big disimprovement. Meanwhile, some sv stores are better now than any sq ones were.

beauf

Like others I think they changed sometime after SV takeover. Stopped buying them after that. Just bland. Wouldn't be something we have often, but it would be Kearns or similar. Or the local butcher which is mostly great.

Riesen_Meal

Haven't noticed any changes in them and I'm eating them most weekends for year's now...

andekwarhola

the beer revolu wrote: »

In my experience, butcher sausages can be very inconsistent. Sometimes fantastic, sometimes too salty, sometimes too wet, etc.
And I'm going on butchers famous for their sausages.
Obviously, I can't speak for all butchers.

I like the sausage and pudding from the butcher I use, but fair point. One thing that's surprising too is the difference in price between them and premium supermarket brands.

Not saying the premium brands mentioned are crap as such but that the fawning accolades are as much down to Erin Soup Type Irish Childhood Retro tropes as objectivity.

Zoot1530

Need to lose the name , these are not the same product now. I went to Turkey in 2012 and a café owner said don't worry we have SuperQuinn sausages. They where know worldwide. The product should be renamed as Supervalu Sausages. Eammon , Stephen, step in here please and protect the brand

AutoTuning

The issue with SuperValu is they’re not a single owner. They’re a symbol group. So you’ve different focuses from different stores. Some of the SuperValu stores are targeting the foodier consumer, others aren’t. That’s not necessarily consistent across the brand.

Some of the Cork City stores that were always SuperValu are absolutely top notch. Some of the rural SuperValus and the older Dublin ones are really mediocre.

That being said the same applies to Dunnes. You get stores that seem to be competing more with Aldi / Lidl and others that are probably some of the most gourmet supermarkets anywhere and would outdo a London Waitrose.

Tesco can be hit and miss too. None of their stores are a pleasure to shop in. Most feel like blandness and a bit like the decor of the interior of a 1980s fridge, but they get the job done.

I find M&S goes though phases too. I stopped shopping there when they seemed to go though a phase of Brexit inspired British nostalgia food. Has that worn off?

endacl

andrew1977 wrote: »

Yip , same here , gave up on them a good while ago too , rotten they are now , no different to any supermarket sausage .
Butchers for me now .

Yoda feels the same way.

Heroditas

Yeah we got some of the Superquinn sausages recently and they didn't taste as nice as I had remembered them.
However, Olhausen would be my default sausages if I'm buying a pack of them. Apart from that, the local butcher makes excellent ones, as well as nice pudding.
If his own stuff isn't available, I'd buy Kelly's.
Our local SuperValu is huge (Lucan). I think it's their flagship store and the stock selection is superior even to some Dunnes Stores in my opinion (but not the likes of Blanchardstown).

AndyBoBandy

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

SuperValu’s that were always a SuperValu are sh1te.
The ones that were previously Superquinn’s are still decent enough. Particularly for fresh bread.
......

You've been in all it at least most of their stores to claim that?

I can think of a few outstanding outlets that were always supervalu.and never superquinn... Ryan's in glanmire and grange...& Condrons in Clane. Ryan's in togher was previously something else decades ago.... Their bakery is excellent but the store is a tad cramped.

The superquinn love in is often wannabes thinking they were great in their grad gigs and credit union funded Golf back in the boom.

AutoTuning

the beer revolu wrote: »

Yes, individual sv stores can be brilliant.
Clonakilty, skibbereen, etc but the one in Cork City Centre is rubbish and has been since sv took it over.
If the sq stores were taken over by enterprising franchisees, they might have fared better but sv took over them directly. I guess customers saw a big disimprovement. Meanwhile, some sv stores are better now than any sq ones were.

I think the issue in that one is probably playing the role of city centre provisions store. Tesco Paul Street and Dunnes Patrick’s Street (food section seems like an afterthought at an excellent clothes and homewares store) aren’t great either. I actually find Paul Street unpleasant to shop in and avoid it just because of the drab layout. Reminds me a bit of grim, dated supermarkets in central Brussels.

M&S (literally next door) to SuperValu takes the premium stuff and if you want proper food shopping the English Market is there. I always feel the Cork City Center supermarkets are more like places you might go to pick up milk and washing powder.

andekwarhola

Augeo wrote: »

You've been in all it at least most of their stores to claim that?

I can think of a few outstanding outlets that were always supervalu.and never superquinn... Ryan's in glanmire and grange...& Condrons in Clane. Ryan's in togher was previously something else decades ago.... Their bakery is excellent but the store is a tad cramped.

The superquinn love in is often wannabes thinking they were great in their grad gigs and credit union funded Golf back in the boom.

SV in Balinteer and Celbridge is OK too.

If I was grabbing supermarket sausages myself, I'd usually go with Tesco, that own brand premium range they do.

Annasopra

Planet X wrote: »

Have been very tempted to start making my own sausages........initial outlay can be a bit stiff, for good equipment from the likes of,

https://www.weschenfelder.co.uk/butchers-equipment.html

.....I know it would be a game changer but I've been holding off for a few years now.

Hmmmmm.........

So many gadgets knocking around the kitchen.......I hate that. Pasta rollers, tortilla maker, etc etc etc

You dont really need gadgets. Just do them skinless and make yourself. My Mum used to make homemade sausages with a Darina Allen recipe. Amazing.

Annasopra

These are to die for

https://www.jackandeddies.com/products/sausages/

AutoTuning

I do think though we are looking back at Superquinn with our 80s and 90s glasses on.

They were good in their day and they were very innovative, I mean they launched hand held self scan nearly a quarter of a century ago and Tesco is going on about it now like they just invented it. Their online shopping also launched over 20 years ago.

In terms of food they pioneered a lot of stuff in the Irish market, often taking their lead from what was going on in premium stores in North America, Australia and on the continent.

However, I think if you put a 1990s Superquinn store against a 2020s premium supermarket, it would be like chalk and cheese. Our standards have gone way up. We are a lot foodier.

I grew up with SuperValu Blackrock and Knocklyon being regular features of shopping, but I remember using the Blackrock store probably in about 2005 and being fairly underwhelmed, and that was after spell of being abroad and being in Cork.

Also the low price end of the market has been improved a lot by Lidl and Aldi. That was once dominated by Yellow Pack and Dunnes when Dunnes was really basic. Dunnes have absolutely transformed certain stores and gone way up market and not just superficially either. The products are top notch.

Bob Harris

For standard brand I go Denny Gold medal cook easily and I like the taste and texture.
I got lidl own brand a few months ago Glensallagh, I wouldnt give them to someone else's dog. Awful things.
Got sausages from a butcher's a few weeks ago and they were lovely, from the same butcher's last week and not nearly so nice.

lapua20grain

I'm a fan of the Kearns sausages or my local butchers but superquinn sausages have gone to shyte

AutoTuning

I think there are a few items though that Irish people bang on about out of pure nostalgia rather than that they’re exceptional. I’d add Taytos to that list. They don’t live up to the hype and there are far better Irish crisps that really do. It’s the same with all the Kimberly, Mikado and Coconut Cream biscuits. I think we are remembering childhood treats and tastes have moved on. I’m not convinced the products aren’t as good as they used to be.

Tastes are as much about context as they are about ingredients.

the beer revolu

Bob Harris wrote: »

Got sausages from a butcher's a few weeks ago and they were lovely, from the same butcher's last week and not nearly so nice.

This is the problem I outlined.
I think these really small batch mixes can be inconsistent. Too much of "a handful of this and a pinch of that".
Someone mentioned fx Buckley's. I'd say they are big enough to have fairly industrialised central production, giving consistency.

Not saying that you can't make good small batch sausages but you really need to weigh and measure everything if you want consistency.

This is a very popular thread, isn't it. Sausages mean a lot to Irish folk!

iora_rua

We like the Athea Black Pudding and Tesco Cumberland sausages. Usually best to check that sausages are at least 80% pork so there's not too much room left for additives.

Odyssey 2005

Zoot1530 wrote: »

To make 2020 even worse, the Superquinn Sausage has changed, yuk. the recipe
must have been altered. not nice at all. Shame on you supervalu/musgraves or whoever you are.

Their gone shyte. Stopped buying them.

Odyssey 2005

Anascaul sausages and pudding is lovely. Usually bring home a load when I'm down that way.
Must call them to see if they have a retailer anywhere else

saabsaab

AutoTuning wrote: »

I think there are a few items though that Irish people bang on about out of pure nostalgia rather than that they’re exceptional. I’d add Taytos to that list. They don’t live up to the hype and there are far better Irish crisps that really do. It’s the same with all the Kimberly, Mikado and Coconut Cream biscuits. I think we are remembering childhood treats and tastes have moved on. I’m not convinced the products aren’t as good as they used to be.

Tastes are as much about context as they are about ingredients.

There may be something in what you say, however many items have changed both in content and quantity. Shrinkflation has been proved. The Kit Kat has a different chocolate that once upon a time..