Bringing Home the Bacon

Announcing the winners of Australia's best bacon in the nation's first ever Bacon Week, 15 - 21 March

Australian Pork Limited (APL) launched National Bacon Week on March 15 to highlight the pink square Australian PorkMark - the only guaranteed way you can choose 100 per cent home grown and manufactured bacon.

This sizzling initiative came about because Australia's pork industry continues to face huge challenges from the massive amounts of frozen pork landing in Australia from highly subsidised agricultural countries like Denmark, Canada and the United States.  In fact 70 per cent of bacon, ham and smallgoods products bought in Australia are made from overseas subsidised pork.

More than $10 million worth of pork imports, or over 2.6 million kilograms of frozen pork, arrives by boat in Australia every week.  That's over half a billion dollars heading offshore per year.

APL CEO Andrew Spencer says: "traditional Australian grocery labelling laws are vague. Commonly used terms such as 'Made in Australia' can be used on products that can contain imported meat. This becomes very confusing for consumers. The pink Australian PorkMark is your guarantee of Australian origin. Consumers want bacon from God's country, not God knows where.

"To date we have one hundred and thirty seven butchers and smallgoods manufacturers Australia wide that are licensed to display the PorkMark logo on their products, which are the finest smallgoods available in Australia."

The theme for inaugural Bacon Week is "Bringing Home the Bacon".  This theme is designed to highlight the fact that the majority of pork used to make bacon sold in Australia was created on the other side of the world.

The Awards for Excellence bacon competition was open to butchers and smallgoods processors who make bacon from 100 per cent Australian pork.

There were 62 different bacons from 45 manufacturers around the country that were tasted and judged, in two categories, full rasher and low fat - the most consumed types of bacon.

The judges were two chefs with broad international experience including working in Michelin starred restaurants, cruise liners and premier teaching institutions, and a Fleischmeister with a Masters degree in Butchering and Smallgoods from the Master College in Monchen Gladbach Germany.

Each entry was judged on the curing process, aroma, texture, taste and shrinkage when cooked. The essential criteria in this competition was that the pork had to be sourced from Australian grown pigmeat.

And the winners are...