Dry-curing bacon specialist targets growth in foodservice

Dry-curing specialist Kennedy Bacon in Northern Ireland has diversified into foodservice with the launch of a new product aimed at chefs as well as retailers.

The company, based on a family farm near Omagh in county Tyrone, has introduced cooked bacon lardons that are ideal for summer salads.

The lardons are the first in a series of pre-cooked bacon products being developed by the artisan business which sells to independent retailers and delis across Northern Ireland and parts of the Republic of Ireland.

The company, owned and managed by Mervyn Kennedy, a long-established pig farmer in Tyrone, has won UK Great Taste Awards for his quality bacon products.

The introduction of cooked lardons follows approaches from chefs interested in adding his artisan products to their menus and dishes. "I've been talking to chefs here for some time about my products and exploring ways that I could adapt them to meet their needs.

"I introduced lardons a few months ago and was encouraged to explore opportunities to pre-cook and package for use in salads, soups and other dishes particularly during the salad season. The cooked lardons are an ideal ingredient for salads," he says.

He produces 100 per cent Northern Irish quality bacon with provenance from his own herd of over 2,000 pigs on the family farm at Glenhordial, near Omagh in rural county Tyrone.

He's a third generation farmer on land the family has owned since moving there from Donegal back in the forties. Brother Nigel runs a dairy business on upwards of 200 acres.

"I'd always been interested in farming and particularly in rearing pigs for bacon," he adds. "I began farming at school and decided to focus on pigs as a youngster. I subsequently began looking at ways to cure bacon to bring out the rich flavours of the meat."

This led him to explore dry-curing techniques. "I wanted to develop different products that didn't involve pumping the bacon with water and preservatives. Some bacon on the market today is 25 per cent water and gammon up to 30 per cent," he continues.

"My bacon is cured for between seven and nine days using my own recipe which also takes into account current health concerns particularly about salt and sugar. Our products are natural and dry-cured and have a shelf-life of around three weeks. It's real bacon that tastes like it should.

"The bacon is cured in as near to the traditional way as possible, using the minimum amount of cure, which leaves our bacon less salty. The result is a tasty product that allows the pan/ grill to stay clean. And with no water added the bacon tastes as it should, savoury, yummy and moreish. It really is bacon at its best!"

The bacon and gammon products are now prepared, sliced and packed in the small factory that he built on the farm around 15 years ago.