Values deliver premium pork
Media article
This article originally appeared in the Colac Herald.
For Otway Pork, it’s a commitment to a strict set of values that enables the company to deliver premium quality pork to barbecues, lunches, and dinner plates across Victoria. The company calls this ethos ‘The Otway Way,’ and from the paddocks of beautiful Southwest Victorian farms, Otway Pork has been a trailblazer for sustainable and ethical pork production for the past 30 years.
The company’s farms span from the Geelong district right through to the South Australian border, ideal terrain for raising pigs and producing premium, quality pork. The pork is sold through leading local butchers, delis, retail outlets, and supermarkets throughout Australia, as well as being exported to destinations across Asia.
But for Otway Pork CEO Duncan Parry, it’s the local food scene that is one of the most important markets for Otway Pork. “We work with lots of great food outlets throughout Southwest Victoria,” Duncan said. “It’s the restaurants and cafes and delis, run by people who really take pride in selling a premium, sustainable, ethical product grown locally, by locals. We are now encouraging people to head to their local butcher, deli, or cafe and ask for Otway. It’s the best way to know you are getting a delicious pork product and supporting a local business and local workers at the same time.”
All Otway Pork products are made from 100 percent Australian pork, produced with care to deliver a consistently high-quality taste. Products include streaky bacon, short-cut bacon, sausages, and meatballs, as well as premium ham and fresh pork. It’s a range of products that has seen the company win numerous Australian Charcuterie Excellence Awards, as well as winning a loyal following of customers over the past three decades.
“The big thing for Otway Pork is what we call ‘The Otway Way,’ which drives our pork production,” Duncan said. “We focus on sustainable production and land management systems, improving biodiversity, recycling waste, minimising water use, reducing energy consumption, and lowering carbon emissions.”
All Otway Pork pigs are born and bred outdoors, then raised either outdoors on free-range farms or indoors on straw in eco-shelters. In both instances, the pigs are raised with freedom to socialize and forage and are fed a tailored and natural grain-based diet, free from growth promotants and hormones. “We have free-range pigs, where the pigs are born, bred, and raised in a free-range environment,” Duncan said. “We also have the eco-shelters where pigs are raised on straw. They have space to run around, and they have toys, pipes, and balls to play with.”
With a strong focus on sustainable land management systems, the farms work on rotational paddock use. Once the pigs have been on the paddocks for a certain time, they are moved to fresh land, and their former paddocks are then rejuvenated through a crop rotation, delivering straw that’s used as bedding for the pigs. The bedding waste is later used as compost, in a circular system that improves biodiversity on the farm, minimizes waste, and reduces energy consumption.
This attention to detail right along the system ensures Otway Pork can offer food retailers throughout Southwest Victoria a premium pork product that they can proudly sell to their customers. “We always want to be an active part of the local community,” Duncan said. “And we appreciate our customers who value a product made locally.”
True to this ethos, the company supports local communities and clubs, whether it’s the Winchelsea Cricket Club, Lifeline Geelong and Southwest Victoria, Corio Bay Rowing Club, or the Edenhope Football and Netball Club. “That’s where our employees come from, all our team members come from these local communities and we like to give back, to be a really respected part of this community,” Duncan said.
