Hobart butcher brings home the bacon in annual ham awards

IT’S no porky pie that a Hobart butcher has just won two coveted food awards for its work with pink meat.

LOcal butcher, TasMeats, wins a national award for ham, it's start of pork week, and we have some succilent leg of hams on the bone ready for Christmas, ,, picture of butcher Nathan Grant with process manager Phillip Bowden in the factory. with ham and trophies,, picture kim eiszele

IT’S no porky pie that a Hobart butcher has just won two coveted food awards for its work with pink meat.

Tasmanian Meat Wholesalers, in Campbell St, has picked up gold (for boneless ham) and silver (cooked on the bone) gongs at Australian Ham Awards.

The awards are part of (well-timed for Christmas) Australian Ham Week, which runs until Saturday.

“This is the first time we have entered these awards. We handcraft our hams from Tasmanian pork legs using local farmers,” general manager Greg Jones said.

The company, which employs 40 people and sells more than two tonnes of sausages a week, is also in the running for a national Sausage King award.

Operations manager Dave Dillon says the company gets most of its pork from northern producer Neil Atkins.

“Tasmanian pork tastes fantastic because of the way its bred, raised and fed,” Mr Dillon said.

Australian Pork Limited marketing manager Mitch Edwards said the local pork industry led the world by ensuring its products were fully traced from paddock to plate.

“Australian ham tastes great, is safe, quality assured and supports local farmers,” he said.

To ensure your ham is Australian, buy a bone-in ham with the pink PorkMark logo.