Pig Farmer Tickled Pink By Top Ham Award

 North Island farmer Jim Mather takes great pride in “growing fantastic animals” on his farm near Foxton – but he was still surprised to find a ham from one of his pigs had won the highly coveted Supreme Award in the 2022 100% New Zealand Bacon and Ham Awards.

Jim Mather and prize winning pig

Auckland’s Westmere Butchery won New Zealand’s best ham award for their bone-in leg ham, but a journey back along the supply chain to discover the provenance of the champion ham, leads to Jim Mather’s family farm.

“We know it’s fantastic pork - because our pigs want for nothing,” says Jim.

“But you don’t usually get a lot of validation for your product as a farmer. We really appreciate that the winner made a point of making sure we knew it was one of ours - we’re absolutely delighted.”

Jim employs five full time staff and says they are critical to the comfort and welfare of the pigs and the quality of the pork.

“They are so hard-working and dedicated to the welfare of the animals, we have a great team who are very skilled and experienced at what they do. Winning the Supreme Award is a real feather in their caps.”

NZPork’s Chief Executive Brent Kleiss was quick to celebrate the local nature of this success story.

“Given the challenging few years most primary industries have been experiencing, we think Kiwis will agree there’s no better time to support local farmers– and what a fantastic example of local this is. It was produced with care in Foxton, processed by Cabernet Foods in Carterton and crafted into a truly delicious ham by an award-winning butchery in Auckland.”

Lyndon Everton, Chief Executive Officer of Cabernet Foods, said: “Cabernet is proud to support local pig farmers like Jim Mather. Our meticulous processing methods and chill chain management ensure that the Mather’s farm pork arrives at Westmere Butchery in the best quality condition. We encourage Kiwis to purchase 100 percent New Zealand pork, which is a cut above the rest.”

Auckland’s Westmere Butchery – no stranger to awards having taken out many awards at the Great New Zealand Sausage Competition over the years – was delighted with the result and attributed their success to the perfect recipe of ingredients.

Owner of Westmere Butchery, Dave Rossiter, said: “It takes a team effort to create an award winning ham, and one of the most important members of the team is the farmer who is producing the raw ingredients. From the care they take with their animals, to the quality of the end product that arrives in our shop – we are proud to support the New Zealand pig industry and showcase their product.”

Ham is undoubtedly a Christmas centre piece favourite, being voted the most popular protein in last year’s Great Kiwi Christmas Survey[1].

Kleiss added: “We know that New Zealanders recognise the quality of locally produced food, our farmers and producers are the best in the world. So to support local, people should look for the PigCare™ label on pack or check the country of origin labelling to ensure what you’re getting is only great New Zealand pork.”

A full list of all award-winning hams from the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards is available here.

100% New Zealand Bacon and Ham Awards 2022 results:

2022 Supreme Award - Bacon
Warkworth Butchery – Dry Cured Middle Bacon

2022 Supreme Award - Ham
Westmere Butchery – Bone In Leg Ham

Background
Back after a three-year hiatus, the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards is a prestigious competition well regarded by the retail meat trade and consumers alike. With seven bacon categories, and two ham categories, the competition was open to all retailers who produce bacon and ham from New Zealand Pork (from PigCare™ accredited farms). With almost 200 entries, from around 40 retailers being judged, the competition sees bacon and ham producers from across the country submit their tasty products in the hope of being announced one of the Supreme Winners. The 100% New Zealand Bacon and Ham Awards is proudly brought to you by NZPork and supported by Cabernet Foods, Freshpork NZ, Hally Labels, Fibrisol, Porkcorp and Wilson Hellaby.

[1] Annual poll run by Retail Meat New Zealand.

© Scoop Media