bacon
The Co-operative bacon
All our standard bacon is made using pork from British pigs reared to our strict welfare standards. This demonstrates the passion the Co-operative has for British product whilst guaranteeing the pigs we use are reared to farm assurance standards designed to provide good health and welfare. These farm assurance standards, indicated to consumers by the Red Tractor logo or Quality Pork mark, are not matched anywhere else in Europe. We are the only one of the top five retailers to only sell British own brand bacon.
All our Truly Irresistible Bacon is British and is made using higher welfare Hampshire breed outdoor reared pork which is succulent and full of flavour. The pigs are sired by a pure bred Hampshire boar and the outdoor rearing system ensures the pigs spend the first half of their life outdoors, they are then transferred to open, naturally lit barns with deep straw bedding. All these farms have been inspected and approved by Freedom Foods, to the welfare standards laid down by the RSPCA.
We sell two types of Truly Irresistible bacon.
Dry Cure; The process we use dates back to the 1890’s and the traditions of those days are maintained to ensure that a premium quality bacon is produced. A special blend of ingredients (cure) and sea salt is hand rubbed into the meat, allowing it to naturally penetrate the pork with the preservatives. The product is then air dried to remove natural water so that the bacon is full of flavour.
Wiltshire; The traditional Wiltshire curing process dates back to the 1840’s. With this process, the meat is immersed for a few days in a special brine that contains useful salt tolerant bacteria. These bacteria generate the flavour that is associated with Wiltshire bacon. The time within this special brine allows the flavour and cure to penetrate the meat. The bacon is then air dried to allow natural water content to be lost, so that the flavour intensifies.