The Blue Pig Company Philosophy

Our over riding aim is to produce great tasting pork, sausages, bacon and gammon. To do this we want to farm in a way that “honours the beast”. We also want to honour our agricultural, cultural and family heritage especially as we believe all these things creates some thing that is memorable to eat again and again.

By definition the best way to honour the beast is to have a free range system of rearing our pigs. It also means keeping a breed of pig that thrives outdoors. So we have Gloucester Old Spots and Saddlebacks that graze and root even in the Yorkshire Dales rain and wind. Naturally we have pig arks for the pigs to take shelter if they wish and in the depths of winter we like to farrow our sows indoors in plenty of room and loads of straw. This is a system our granddad and his granddad would have recognised and thought of as common sense. Letting traditional pigs do what pigs want to do is good for the pig which is good for the farmer and it means they taste good.

Having raised a “happy” pig in a slow and relaxed way from conception to its final journey it makes sense to continue to treat the meat with respect. So when we make sausages we use high quality rusks and seasonings from another Yorkshire company. Its worth remembering why rusk is added too. Rare breed pork has a bit more fat than other pork and the rusk absorbs this as the sausage cooks. That’s what gives succulence and flavour. Granny used to tell tales of dry curing bacon in the farm house cellar. Now the cellar is out of bounds but the tradition of dry curing continues. It reduces yield but increases quality.

The Blue Pig Company is keeping alive the pigs, the flavours, the heritage of hundreds of years. The eternal values of care for your livestock, honouring our farming tradition, respect for the meat they produce and the pleasure this brings to our customers is why we exist. We know you can taste our pigs breed and lifestyle on the plate, we also like to think you can evoke the flavour of the landscape and feel the generations of Dalesmen, working outdoors in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

If you'd like to speak us further about our truly free range products, just give us a call on 01729 840218, we might be in a field at the time but we'll always call you back. Or browse our products in our shop.