I’m always banging on about how you can’t make really great ham unless you start with happy pigs, and nothing illustrates this better than the pork we get from our friends at Packington Free Range.

It’s an inconvenient truth that being a ham-centric business means that we use a lot more back legs of pigs than we do the rest of the animal – something that doesn’t necessarily endear us to pig farmers, who resolutely insist on sticking to the tried and tested system of growing pigs with just two back legs each.

This means that we have to shop around several suppliers to find enough pork that meets our high welfare standards, but Packington are one of our main suppliers for a reason.

Unlike most other free-range farms, all Packington Free Range pigs are born outdoors and live their whole lives in the lush green pastures of the farm at Packington. They’re not taken indoors to fatten up at the end of their lives. They ensure their pigs live stress-free, by always providing them with what they need, when they need it.

By providing mud wallows in the summer, fresh bedding, high-quality food, a plentiful supply of water and lots of tender loving care, they produce healthy, happy pigs.

Furthermore, Packington Free Range pigs are reared to the highest welfare standards and have been well recognised by butchers and the RSPCA Freedom Foods, as the best you can get. We believe that the traditional free-range way of farming is paramount. It may take longer to produce pigs in this way and cost a little more, but the results are worth it and our customers agree.