THIS IS... BACON!

How many of you have watched River Cottage and felt the need to just… do? Well we are a husband and wife team who live in sunny Kent and we’re really passionate about the stuff that goes into our mouths. I’m Andy, currently an IT project manager, previously a banker (judge away, I am a changed man!), I bring the drive and the ideas bit, then I go to Sarah, who calms me down; she is Welsh (which causes problems when the rugby’s on) with a science PhD, so while she is annoyingly obsessive over detail, it also comes in very handy.

Sarah helped me to (I know it is cheesy) “see the light”. It all started with lots of episodes of River Cottage and It’s Not Easy Being Green. We went back to basics, over a number of years we set up a small farm, got sheep, pigs, goats and cows, and learnt how to make the basics of life: bread, butter and of course, Bacon!

So far we have developed our amazing range of flavoured Bacons as well as experimented with animals other than pigs and trialled them on our friends and at a few farmers markets around Kent and had very positive feedback, so we know what we have is good.

What are we looking to do?

You can find out more about us, our products and our irrational fear of the impending ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE on our website - www.thisisbacon.co.uk , or follow us on Facebook - facebook.com/thisisbaconuk , or Twitter - twitter.com/thisisbaconuk , or even Pintrest (no idea what this one is all about however!) - uk.pinterest.com/thisisbacon/

To save the world via the medium of Bacon! We don't know how we are going to do this yet, but once we start producing we will work it out!

This is where we need you, the fantastic Bacon lovers of the UK or even the world.

We’ve bought loads of equipment in the process of developing the range, but what we have is all small scale and not suitable for what we want to do next. We’ve designed the packaging, we have found Dave (our pig breeder) and we have done our homework with the Environmental Health guys. We have literally (and we mean this; we know how horribly overused that word is) done all we can do.

We need, amongst other things, industrial scale smokers, slicers, and vacuum sealers, we need commercial fridges and freezers, and to convert some farm premises into a suitable Bacon producing area.

Just to be clear, Crowdfunder is not a shop! Your contribution will enable This is Bacon to exist, but only if we reach our target. If we don’t hit our goal, you won’t pay a penny and we will not be able to bring Bacon based goodness to the world…

If you lovely, lovely people do help us to succeed, you will get a reward as a thank you and also the knowledge that you have secured a better future for the Bacon lovers of the UK.

If we hit our target, we have a number of stretch goals in mind as well! With extra goodies for all concerned, so please spread the word!

We understand that we are asking a lot, but please don’t make me go back to banking!

TRADITIONAL METHODS

With great Bacon, comes great responsibility! Bacon, the key ingredient in the “Full English” and a much heralded butty favourite is not something which should be taken lightly. Proper Bacon which is slowly cured and air-dried over a period of weeks, will go further and needless to say will taste awesome on its own or with other ingredients.

TRADITIONAL PIGS

We source our pork from the lovely Dave at Independent Trotters in Thurnham, Kent where his rare-breed, free-range and pedigree rare-breed pigs graze and forage on the North Downs, living in the open air all their lives*. Their diet is supplemented with fresh fruit and vegetables, this produces flavour packed, tender pork which in turn produces fabulous Bacon!

MODERN TWIST!

We have developed a range of special cure mixes with such additions as Chilli, Bourbon, Garlic and Herbs, which we feel enhances the natural flavours in the meat to raise it to a whole new level of deliciousness! In addition we have not stopped at pork Bacon, and have also developed a range of “Bacons” from other delicious animals

So what is in it for me?

Depending on the reward level you choose, there are a bunch of options

Bacon

You will be given a choice between all of our Pork flavours – Naked, Garlic, Herby, Chilli, “Silly Chilli”, Bourbon & Demerara and Peppery. Our duck, turkey and beef Bacons are also completely awesome!

CHILLI BACON

GARLIC BACON

HERBY BACON

NAKED BACON

Why stop at four?

Hot Stuff Jalapeños are used to create a nice comfortable heat and a slight burn. For the more adventurous, why not give the “Silly Chilli” a go?Ooo la la! Frighten off the Vampires with a hint of garlic. Enough to feel safe, but not so much it would repel humans as well! Warning, it may attract French people.Or ‘erby in American Tarragon, rosemary and thyme come together to add an aromatic depth of flavour… “Grrrreeeeaaaat with Chicken”Pure and Simple We don’t need to dress our Bacon to hide any flaws. Our Bacon is proud of its natural form. And granddad doesn’t like his food messed with…

We haven't! It is just that we only have packaging designed for the four above at the moment! We also have these:

BOURBON & DEMERARA

PEPPERY

SILLY CHILLI

Why stop with Pigs?

Not the biscuit! A subtle hint of American whisky with the sweetness of dark demerara sugar. Has been known to work as hair of the dogIrritable and sharp-tongued We hand rub a special mix of different fine and course ground peppers to give a fiery finishOh. My. God. My face is melting When making this Bacon we need to wear face masks as you cannot breath in the powders we use. Our curing salts are mixed with Ghost Naga powder and topped with crushed Nagas – serious chilli heads only!

Again! We haven't! As we all know that the pig is probably the most tasty animal on the planet... But other animals are also very tasty and should not be left out and be allowed to benefit from the awesome power of "baconing"!

DUCK BACON

TURKEY BACON

BEEF BACON

T-shirts

QuackPlockMooOur t-shirts will be made from organic, ethically sourced cotton. All you need to do is let us know the design you want from our range of nine designs and the size you require - taking into account the large amount of Bacon you are hopefully going to be consuming as well!

Other Great Things!

The cookbook (we are working on it at the moment) will contain 60ish recipes that are based on Bacon (shock horror!)... You can download the FREE SAMPLE CHAPTER here, we are looking to get this published by the start of December - so an ideal Christmas present!Oh yes! This is a thick tomato ketchup with a copious amount of jalapeño peppers and infused with crispy cooked bacon!A lovely rich ketchup with the taste of roasted red peppers again infused with crispy cooked bacon!For those of you who insist on Brown sauce on your sandwich... A traditional brown sauce made with apples and prunes and (of course) BACON! The tote bag and apron are again organic cotton and ethical and will allow you to spread the word about your love for Bacon...

THE SMALL PRINT

All hail the Bacon!!

We are aiming to get the full production facility live for the start of April 2016. We will keep everyone updated with our progress as the build commences! We will not be shipping any products until that point (except the book).

We cannot ship anything food related abroad I'm sorry to say... It is just too complex to do at this time...

We can however ship books, t-shirts, aprons, etc. to you excellent people who do not live in the UK but still love Bacon! However (sorry once more) you will need to pay an extra £5 for shipping...

We will be in touch once the campaign is finished to collect the t-shirt design you require (it would be too complex to ask you at this time) and to confirm the sizes as well.

We are aiming to get the book done this side of Christmas, so why not get that as a present for the Bacon lover in your life!

As with all things in life these days there are some conditions... Sorry about this...