Fife butcher to star in new TV series

Tom Courts was visited by a film crew recently for the programme which is being fronted by Scottish comedian and television presenter Susan Calman.

The move comes as the town businessman is in the process of launching a new website to sell his champion haggis throughout the UK as well as planning an online shop for all his other award-winning products.

Tom Courts, based in the High Street, was crowned Scottish Haggis Champion 2019 at the Scottish Meat Trade Fair in Perth in May last year.

The High Street shop scooped the award with its 50-year-old secret family recipe – passed down through two generations - with only a few changes.

Tom told The Press he can’t reveal too many details about the programme, but he did it is a very exciting time for his business.

“I am pretty much sworn to secrecy on this but the film crew were from Channel 5 for an upcoming series fronted by Susan Calman which will be aired later this year or early 2021,” he said.

“They visited a number of sites in the Fife area including Burntisland where they wanted to see how the Scottish Champion’ Burntisland Haggis’ is made and ask me what it takes to win that competition and what it is like to be the champ.

“Filming took around two hours and we had to close the shop during that time because of the restrictions associated with Covid-19.

“But we got there in the end and I really enjoyed the experience.”

He continued: “They filmed me making and cooking a batch of haggis and Susan did her best to get me to reveal my secret ingredients, which obviously I didn’t!

“I use the same recipe that my father formulated 50 years ago, but in recent years I have added an extra couple of ingredients which I believe makes my haggis stand out. That is evidenced in the fact that the last three times the competition has taken place (it’s every two years) I have been Reserve Champion 2015-16 and Champion 2019-20.

“Susan Calman is every bit as funny and engaging off camera as she is on it and the timing couldn’t have been better for my business as I am about to launch a website to sell my haggis throughout the UK. We are also planning an online shop for our other award winning products and we will deliver locally and by courier over wider distances.

“Exciting times for us here in Burntisland.”

Tom added that he hopes the website ‘Burntisland Haggis’ will launch at the end of this month with the online butchery shop following under the banner of Tom Courts Quality Foods before the festive season.

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