First Time Great Taste winner seeks sales in Britain
Northern Ireland's Sloan's Bacon, a first time winner in the recent UK Great Taste Awards, is seeking to build contacts in Britain and
the Republic of Ireland to boost sales.
The artisan company, based at Kilrea in county Derry, gained a totalof three-stars for its bacon from locally sourced pigs in the
awards. It was awarded two-stars for its smoked and dry-cured
rind less bacon and one star for dry-cured back bacon.
Sloan's Bacon, as part of its drive to win sales outside Northern
Ireland, will be showing its products at the big Food Hospitality
Ireland show in Dublin next month.
Great Taste judges including leading UK food writers and chefs,
acclaimed the bacon products with descriptions such as 'wonderful
flavour', 'lovely sweetness', 'well balanced and subtly smoked',
'excellent cure' and 'succulent porky flavour'.
Joe Sloan, the managing director, founded the artisan business in
1999 and now runs it with daughter Katie, who looks after sales and is also involved in curing the bacon. Joe is a third generation
farmer at Kilmore, near Kilrea, where he farms 56 acres and has a
herd of beef cattle.
Joe began curing bacon around 1996 in the days when he reared pigs
on the family farm. "I've always been interested in curing bacon andspent some time developing my own recipe and techniques. We add
nothing whatsoever to the bacon. We dry-cure all our products
on-site in our small unit at Kilrea from raw material sourced from
local wholesalers," he says.
"All our products are hand cured from raw material that's fully
traceable. I set out to develop proper bacon with outstanding
flavours and I think Great Taste has recognised this.
"We've achieved a richly flavoured bacon from our high pork content.Analysis has shown that our bacon is almost 99 per cent pork.
As a farmer, my focus has always been on wholesome local products," he says.
The company cures a range of bacon products by hand - back bacon,
middle, streaky, smoked, rind less and with rind. Their focus is
on thicker cuts. Sloan's also offers bespoke bacon to the
requirements of individual customers and has developed a dry-cured
gammon.
the Republic of Ireland to boost sales.
The artisan company, based at Kilrea in county Derry, gained a totalof three-stars for its bacon from locally sourced pigs in the
awards. It was awarded two-stars for its smoked and dry-cured
rind less bacon and one star for dry-cured back bacon.
Sloan's Bacon, as part of its drive to win sales outside Northern
Ireland, will be showing its products at the big Food Hospitality
Ireland show in Dublin next month.
Great Taste judges including leading UK food writers and chefs,
acclaimed the bacon products with descriptions such as 'wonderful
flavour', 'lovely sweetness', 'well balanced and subtly smoked',
'excellent cure' and 'succulent porky flavour'.
Joe Sloan, the managing director, founded the artisan business in
1999 and now runs it with daughter Katie, who looks after sales and is also involved in curing the bacon. Joe is a third generation
farmer at Kilmore, near Kilrea, where he farms 56 acres and has a
herd of beef cattle.
Joe began curing bacon around 1996 in the days when he reared pigs
on the family farm. "I've always been interested in curing bacon andspent some time developing my own recipe and techniques. We add
nothing whatsoever to the bacon. We dry-cure all our products
on-site in our small unit at Kilrea from raw material sourced from
local wholesalers," he says.
"All our products are hand cured from raw material that's fully
traceable. I set out to develop proper bacon with outstanding
flavours and I think Great Taste has recognised this.
"We've achieved a richly flavoured bacon from our high pork content.Analysis has shown that our bacon is almost 99 per cent pork.
As a farmer, my focus has always been on wholesome local products," he says.
The company cures a range of bacon products by hand - back bacon,
middle, streaky, smoked, rind less and with rind. Their focus is
on thicker cuts. Sloan's also offers bespoke bacon to the
requirements of individual customers and has developed a dry-cured
gammon.