A former bank lawyer who was based in Hong Kong and only started farming in Cumbria two years ago has won a contract to supply Booths, the region's leading retailer.
Tony Fox rears British Saddleback Pigs on his farm in Eskdale, where the animals spend much of their day roaming freely in woods and fields. The British Saddleback was established as a breed in 1967 and is particularly striking, with a mainly black body and a white band over the shoulders and down to both front feet.
Tony Fox came to live in the pretty Lakeland valley with his Australian wife and five children a few years ago, when he was told to take it easy after a heart attack.
In 2005 his daughter was given two young female Saddleback pigs known as gilts for her birthday. Tony then made the decision to buy a boar and start breeding the animals.
It was an interesting departure for the former lawyer. He had good farming roots but was new to pig farming. He says: "We didn't know much about farming pigs but we had the background so we started talking to farmers about rearing the Saddlebacks. I became fascinated by the animals and the farm took off from there."
Booths was so impressed by the quality of the Saddlebacks that they decided to buy whole pigs from Tony's farm. Booths buy the pigs on a deadweight arrangement, the first time they have worked with a producer in this way.
The retailer then works with a local abattoir in Cumbria on the cutting requirements. Once processed the cuts are delivered to Booths meat preparation facility in Preston.
The products produced from the Eskdale Saddleback pigs include a roast ham, pork chops and sausages.
Booths has created a unique new recipe for Eskdale Saddleback Thin Pork Sausages, blended with a seasoning that has been developed from spices including pepper, mace, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, chilli and coriander that contain no artificial colours or preservatives. The sausages are sold in 400g packs for £2.29.
Nigel Cokell, the fresh meat buyer for Booths, says: "We're always on the look out for products with local provenance to add to the range available in our stores. So I was very interested when I heard about Tony's pigs.
"I knew that I wanted Booths to work with him as soon as I saw the farm in Eskdale. The pigs are very well cared for and have plenty of space to roam.
"Because they are reared outdoors and allowed to develop naturally we only take the pigs when they are ready. The meat from Tony's British Saddlebacks also has a slighter richer flavour than usual because of their diet - a combination of grass, roots, hay and silage. The result is some of the best pork products I've ever tasted."
The meats are available in all Booths Cumbrian stores as well as the Carnforth, Ilkley, Haven Road Lytham, Penwortham and Knutsford stores.
Booths has even designed a special poster to promote Tony's products in the stores. It shows a small train travelling through woods where pigs are grazing. The valley is well known as the home of the narrow gauge Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, affectionally known locally as The Ratty.
Tony Fox says: "I'm delighted that Booths have decided to work with us. It's great that a food retailer like Booths will work with small farmers like me and give us the support we need to make this kind of deal possible. It's a relationship I look forward to developing in future."
