Trunkey’s pork, bacon, and ham prepared the old-fashioned way

Want a top-quality, traditionally-smoked ham or pork roast for Christmas?

Get your skates on then and head to Trunkey Bacon and Pork at 68 Endsleigh Avenue to beat the Yuletide rush.

Based at their property near Trunkey for more than two decades, Zanzie and Fred D’Souza had a vision to produce top-quality, traditionally-prepared pork and bacon for the Central Tablelands.

“When we started just over 21 years ago, we had pigs ourselves and wanted to make good-quality products for the local market.

“We do all the preparation and work at the shopfront in Endsleigh Ave, we ensure quality-control from ‘birth to bacon’, as we say,” Zanzie explained.

Pigs are all grown locally without any HGP (hormonal growth promotants) at their own and other local farms where they can assure quality.

“They’re all raised free-range, they grow slowly and, as we don’t have that many, we get them from producers in the area,” she added.

The curing and smoking of the meat are also carried out in-house to their specific high standards.

“It’s our own system and we’ve tweaked it over the years, it’s double-smoked the old-fashioned way with wood-chips; many larger producers use a type of ‘liquid smoke’ that’s based on chemicals.

“We’ve got three smoke ovens and it all takes time because of the natural way that we smoke it,” Zanzie said.

Like many small, independent retailers, the lockdowns over the past two years affected their business model disproportionately compared to larger retailers.

“We were affected because we do a lot of farmers markets from Sydney to the Mountains, and it was hard with everything closed.

“But we moved to buying online and did some home delivery to keep going,” she said.

Festive Season 2021, however, is likely to see start of the big recovery, if current orders are any indication.

“We’re looking forward to things opening up... I think it’s going to be a huge Christmas; we’re getting a lot of orders online and, if you want something for Christmas, order now!” Zanzie said.

Everything they sell, she adds, is made to their exacting standards in-house, with one notable exception.

“Everything that we sell is made by us, the pork, the beef, but the lamb we buy in. We get that from Cowra Lamb, which is the best lamb that you can buy.

“We’re as local as you can get, a family-owned and family-run business for two decades,” Zanzie said proudly.

Trunkey Bacon and Pork, 68 Endsleigh Avenue, Ph. 0419 438 147, order online at: orders@trunkey.com.au