Why Berkshire Pork?
Berkshire pork is renowned for its richness, texture, marbling, juiciness, tenderness and overall depth of flavor. It is thought by many to be the Kobe beef of pork. It is said to have a very specific delicious taste, not at all like generic and bland regular pork.

It Berkshire Pork really that different than supermarket pork? 
Berkshire pork looks and tastes like no other pork meat. Unlike supermarket pork, Berkshire pork is visibly different. It has a darker, richer color with an abundance of intramuscular marbling- comparable to prime beef. Its flavor is distinctive with an unparalleled tenderness for pork.

Is Berkshire Pork really more healthy?
Berkshire pigs actually have more unsaturated fat (versus high levels of saturated fat) than conventionally bred pigs (classified as “meat-type pigs”). When cured, Berkshire meat makes unsurpassed hams, charcuterie, and salamis, and our famous Pasture Prime farm cured bacon.

What do you feed your Berkshire Pigs?

Our heritage breed Berkshire pigs are raised on an all-natural diet consisting of our custom feed blend of small grains: wheat, oats, barley plus field peas. No Soy & No Corn.  This is based on a historic European style hog feed. They also get lots of veggies and fruits like squash, carrots, apples, & pears.   This produces a leaner meat and a more silky fat marbled. 

What's not in our Berkshire Pork?

Bacons & Hams are cured with natural celery seed. There are no unnecessary added ingredients. Our pork products are free of MSG, nitrates, artificial nitrites, antibiotics, steroids, drugs, and hormones.

The Origins of Berkshire Pork

The Berkshire pig is the oldest identifiable hog breed, dating back to England in the 1600s, where it was rumored to have been discovered by Sir Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell and his army greatly valued the Berkshire hogs for their succulent, tender, flavorful, and generally superior meat compared to the other livestock available. At the time, the Berkshire hog was described as being reddish or sandy in coloration.

The very first Berkshire hogs came to the United States in 1823, where they quickly assimilated into the general hog population as a result of the significant improvements that developed from the Berkshire hogs mixing with the stock of common hogs. However, not everyone was keen on the Berkshire hogs mingling with the other stock.

In 1875, a number of American Berkshire hog breeders and importers congregated in Springfield, Illinois, to discuss a plan for maintaining the purity of the Berkshire hog bloodline. This group operated under the belief that the Berkshire hog should remain pure for the improvement of the swine already in the United States. They were concerned the population of the common hogs would be reduced to a fraction of what it presently was at the time.

The American Berkshire Association was founded February 25, 1875, as the world’s very first swine registry, praised and utilized by breeders in both the U.S. and in England. Queen Victoria was actually the first person to breed a Berkshire hog, one named Ace of Spades.

Today, Berkshire pork remains a prized, high-quality meat of supreme flavor, tenderness, and texture.