Meet Richard Vaughan (Huntsham Court Farm). This farmer, who breeds a very rare breed of pig, the “Middle White”, will be the pig meat supplier at the 55ᵉ edition of the ‘Taittinger’ final.
After a successful career as one of the UK’s leading beef wholesalers, RichardVaughan decided to completely rethink the way he supplied food to people. He quit this crazy race to the bottom for a much more qualitative approach to meat production (beef, pork and lamb).
Based in the West Midlands on the border with Wales for 25 years, it was at this point that Richard started rearing a specific breed of pig: Middle White pork, a very rare British variety. While this was a popular choice in the 1930s, the breed had almost disappeared from the market after being supplanted by Danish pork.
Middle White pork is a breed with unique taste qualities, having never been cross bred. Richard Vaughan has clearly taken special care in rearing his livestock, feeding his pigs almost exclusively with hay and giving them plenty of space to roam around the farm.
This is all part of his ambition to produce delicious meat in the same way the great châteaux of the world produce great wine. His project has been a success story, as today he supplies a third of England’s Michelin starred restaurants and exports his pork to Asia’s top fine dining destinations.
As Michel Roux, who works with Richard Vaughan’s pork, so accurately puts it, “Middle White pork has the crispiest skin and its fat has an incredibly unique flavour that showcases this fantastic meat perfectly!”
