“We can also keep more of the fat on the bacon as people now appreciate its role in flavour and texture.”
The award-winning bacon was made using pork from the Cottle family’s 370ha Highgrounds farm near Timaru, where Hamish and Angela Cottle have integrated free-range pigs into the sheep and beef operation started by Hamish’s parents, John and Cheryl.
With around 300 breeding sows and about 150 pigs going to market each week, the Cottles have spent 14 years developing a system they say is good for the animals, the land and the wider farm business.
“We’re really delighted that it’s our pork Reuben has chosen to use,” Angela said.
“It makes us feel proud of the journey we’ve gone on and the effort everyone makes to deliver the best.”
On Highgrounds, the pigs move around the farm over a five- to six-year rotation.
They are on each area for several months before being shifted to fresh ground, leaving behind fertility that helps grow catch crops and, later, pasture for sheep and beef cattle.
“The pigs deliver nutrients into paddocks through their manure, urine and what they’re fed,” Hamish said.
The approach has lifted productivity across the whole farming system, while supporting animal health by ensuring pigs are regularly moved on to clean ground.
“It’s good for the farm, and it’s good for the pigs,” Hamish said.
“They are always going into clean ground, which minimises the risk of disease.
“They’re active and content, and we reckon that has a bearing on the flavour.”
Reuben Sharples won the Supreme Bacon Award at the 2026 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards using pork from Highgrounds.
The Cottles have also developed a free-range farrowing system using transportable heated huts.
Inside each hut, a hot-water-heated stand draws piglets towards the warmth after feeding, reducing the risk of them lying too close to the sow.
The Cottles have supplied free-range pork through Neat Meat’s Harmony brand for 14 years, providing a consistent farm-to-butcher supply chain.
Dave Porter, of Neat Meat, said Sharples was committed to using high-quality ingredients.
“You can’t make a fine wine with sour grapes, and that’s what Reuben prides himself on,” he said.
“To taste very, very good, you have to start with the very, very best raw product.”