Virgin Trains Producer Mark Hayward Brings Home the Bacon

10 June 2009

Mark Hayward is quite the rare breed. Having devoted 20 years of his life to producing premium pork, Mark was thrilled when he was asked to come on board the Virgin Trains team, after being recognised by the company’s catering suppliers (Rail Gourmet) as one of the finest bacon producers in the UK. Since the launch of the new Virgin Trains service on 1st April, which offers a new catering service in first class, Mark has worked with one of the finest bacon providers, Direct Table, to provide a regular source of Smoked Sweet Cure Back Bacon. The bacon is used as part of the traditional British Breakfast on all Virgin Trains’ first-class menus – helping to provide over 10,000 passengers with a hearty meal five mornings per week.

Mark believes in only the highest standards of animal welfare for his pigs. The ‘duroc’ breed provides consistent exceptional taste in the bacon and this has much to do with the environment that the pigs are reared in. All pigs are bred in outdoor surroundings, fed on a natural cereal-based diet and are free to roam to live out their natural instincts. Mark is adamant that this allows each pig the freedom of expression and fullness of life to produce the tastiest meat.

His day starts at around 6:00am when the pigs awake on the beautiful Deben Valley of Suffolk. As well as tending to the surrounding environment checking that his sow has plenty of food, drinking water and that the shelters are full of straw, Mark is also actively involved in looking for new and innovative ways to further improve the pigs’ environment and is continually on the lookout for new initiatives to develop and trial to make his pigs as happy as can be.

Says Mark Hayward, Virgin Trains’ Bacon Producer, “I am delighted to be a Virgin Trains producer and I am very happy to be a part of a company that puts in every effort to ensure its pigs are given the best possible care. My pigs are bred for meat quality and this fits Virgin Trains way of thinking perfectly!”

Says Jim Rowe, Senior Communications Manager at Virgin Trains, “Virgin Trains recently launched a brand new timetable to offer an improved customer experience and new catering service in first-class. It is with the help of producers such as Mark, that Virgin Trains can provide customers with produce that is made entirely of British sources, and most importantly, can be authenticated through the entire food chain guaranteeing consumers a comprehensive assurance of traceability – from pasture to plate”.

-Ends-

Notes to Editor:

Dingley Dell Pork (http://www.dingleydell.com/) is a family owned outdoor pig business situated near Wickham Market in the Deben Valley. The farm is owned and run by Mark and Paul Hayward.
Working with supply chain partnerships such as Direct Table (http://www.directtable.co.uk/) Dingley Dell Pork is able to supply premium pork and pork products in various formats to customers from butchers, caterers and restaurants to retailers such as Rail Gourmet (http://www.railgourmet.com/).