1881
The recipe was born
Powters was originally started by the present owner Grant Powter's great-grandfather. During his time in the town, William Harper developed the recipe for what is now the popular Newmarket Sausage and it’s this recipe we still use today for our spice mix.
1940's
A growth of popularity
After a slight change of location to a few yards down the street the business was next passed to son-in law Herbert 'Horace' James Hawes, renamed H.J.Hawes Pork Shop and moved to what was then known as Drapery Row in Newmarket.
1950's
Progressing the business
Following his return from serving in the Second World War on the beaches of Normandy, Ken Powter then took the business on, initially running it alongside his already well known Fish Shop in Exning Road, Newmarket.
1960's
Growing the brand
The business developed quickly into more than just a shop. Ken Powter began looking for wider stockists of the product and we began retailing in independent shops and grocers.
1970's
Breeding to meet demand
Ken’s son Grant Powter, returned from Agricultural University and became involved in farming and pig production side of the business and together they set up Powters own breeding herd to meet the demand for the sausages!
1980's
Moving up in the world
Powters built it’s own production site just on the outskirts of Newmarket, a fully fitted and modern facility that allowed us to scale up production and took sausage making away from the small shop premises into a purpose built site. At this point we were able to begin supplying some national chains including CO-OP.
1990's
Packaging is the way forward
Throughout the 1990s Powters grew quickly and soon became a Limited company. In 1994 we began supplying TESCO for the first time, direct delivering to stores. Shortly after this in 1998 we developed our first ever pre pack sausage, seeing consumer trends move away from ‘loose’ counter sausages.
2000's
New century, new look
During the turn of the new century Grant continued to expand the business into more supermarkets throughout the early 2000s. Powters developed new ranges and launched new packaging for all it’s products (all of which now looks rather different to our current range!)
2012
Newmarket Sausages recognized with EU Protection
In 2012 “Newmarket” Sausages became the 50th British food product to be awarded the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) from the European Commission. This meant only three local companies can call their produce “Newmarket” sausages. Powters “Newmarket Pig” was one of the three permitted products.
2016
Keeping it in the family
Having trained and practiced as a Lawyer for several years prior, Tristan Powter then became involved in the business during 2016. Today Powter’s has 4 family members working in the business including Tristan, his sister Lydia who also runs her own catering business as well as Alison and Grant Powter. Powters is ever developing and looking for new innovative ways to expand our range.
2017
Powters Launches new range
In 2017 a new re design of packaging took place at the same time as Powters winning multiple great taste awards (link to) in the 2017 competition. This took our new lines to 9 in total with two great new products (Chef’s Pig and the Party Pig) as well as a move to more Gluten Free offerings.