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But it’s the pig itself that makes this pork special. Ken, with his father Emrys, were breeding award-winning Welsh Pigs back in the 1970s and in 1977 took the title of female champion in England’s Royal Show. At that time there were around 4,000 Welsh Pig breeding sows in Wales. Now there are just under 500. But Ken thought about reviving the family herd of pigs in 2009 when he heard that the Welsh Pig had been classified as a rare breed. He currently has a total of 1,200 Welsh Pigs, including around 200 sows. The prize-winning herd at the Austin family home at the 120-acre Burry Farm, Reynoldston includes 24 of the 25 female and 9 of the 11 male lines of the Welsh breed. “We have one third of the Welsh Pig breeding stock in the whole of the UK,” says Ken. “But for us to support the Welsh breed we have to secure a good commercial side of it. If you can’t sell your by-product there is no future.” “I’m very excited about the venture and delighted with the response from chefs at top-quality hotels and restaurants following our launch of the brand at the Mansion House in Swansea last month.” Accreditation under the RSPCA Freedom Foods quality mark means that health and welfare play major roles in the way Ken manages his pigs. There’s a health plan, drawn up in conjunction with a specialist pig veterinarian. Farrowing crates are never used, and tail docking and tooth clipping procedures are not practised. All pregnant sows are housed outside in the farm fields. Ken says the special measures needed to meet the required standards are worth the trouble for the quality mark. “Another advantage is the full traceability, which gives hotels and restaurants complete peace of mind regarding the origins of this high-quality pork,” he says. The pork has been sampled by a number of tasting panels and marked highly for taste, tenderness and cooking quality. Welsh Pigs have slightly more fat than a modern breed of pig, and as most farmers say, it’s the fat in meat that gives the taste. A Gower abattoir has also achieved Freedom Food accreditation, which means shorter travelling times to slaughter and a lower carbon footprint.