Grassroots business near Aylesbury wins national burger award

Burgervore based in Princes Risborough was launched last year when founder Will Batting was made redundant.

At that pivotal moment, self-confessed foodies, Will and his wife Martha, decided to launch their own business.

Now less than one year on they are champions, recognised at an industry-leading event.

Burgervore won the Hellmann's UK Mixologist of the Year prize by producing the best mayonnaise using five ingredients or fewer.

The winning mix was made up of sweetcorn purée, morita chilli pulp, lime juice and zest, topped off with manchego cheese.

Before leaving the event as a champion the Bucks-based business was selected as one of 16 finalists for the top prize.

Ultimately, Bristol-based Danny’s Burgers, was the business judges decided had the best burger.

Unofficially, Will was told his burger finished in the top half of the 16-company field.

Will explained to The Bucks Herald how the business started last year, saying: “I’ve always been a bit of a foodie. I’m an avid barbecuer.

“Me and my wife always try and do things as good as we can and try to get underneath the skin of recipes.

"We got to the point where I needed a change and redundancy was coming, so we thought we may as well give it a go.

"We took out a loan, we bought a secondhand trailer, got it wrapped in Burgervore branding, got a truck for it, and then pretty much emptied the bank account to try and get it off the ground. Since then things are going ok.”

Burgervore is still a part-time venture for Will who also works during the week as a freelance accountant.

Will and his team set up in pubs and public spaces across Princes Risborough on weekends and selected evenings to sell their award-nominated burgers.

Burgervore also drives down to Haddenham on occasions to sell its nationally-recognised meals.

The National Burger Awards winners and 2022 cook off competitions took place at Islington Metal Works last Thursday (20 April).

Will discussed how surreal and exciting a day it was, adding: “We’ve followed the awards for a few years as fans.

"We entered our burger for the main award, we had to spend a lot of time to try and get it right and perfect it.

"We had to make sure the ingredients were as good as we can get and as good as you can get anywhere.

“They saw that as one of the best 16 burgers in the country and we got invited down to London last week.

"I was looking around and it was the all the businesses that I had been following for a while. The pinnacle of the industry.

"There was quite a nice moment, the day was split into two, you had the cooking competition in the afternoon and then in the evening they turned it into an awards ceremony.

"In between, everyone descended into a pub round the corner.

"I was sat there going, well I follow that person, I’ve followed that guy for three years, that guy for four, that guy’s got a book out that I’ve got.

"I was a little bit starstruck at that point to be honest.”