A FARM shop near Hatherleigh can lay claim to having some of the best bacon in the South West, after winning gold and a champion title at the BPEX Pork Product Excellence Awards.

Adrian Edwards, of Brickyard Farm Shop, was one of 23 butchers in the region to submit more than 130 products for evaluation when the BPEX Roadshow stopped at the Sandy Park Conference Centre in Exeter two weeks ago.

He won the gold award for his sweet cured back bacon, and it was also judged to be the best in the home cured bacon and gammon category, winning the prestigious champion title.

Adrian also won gold awards for his traditional pork sausage and 'Pedro's spicy pork kofta kebabs', and silver awards for his hickory smoked pork sausage, dry cured smoked back bacon and sweet cured streaky bacon.

He said: 'We are thrilled with these awards. The BPEX roadshows are of such a high standard, and with expert judges at the helm such high praise for our products really means a lot.

'We are especially pleased to do so well with our sweet cured back bacon. It's a relatively new product but a particular favourite of ours. Although customers are often a little unsure about sweet flavours with bacon, they are soon converted once they try it.'

Adrian has been working in the business for 20 years and regularly enters evaluation events to showcase his products. All the pork used in the products is sourced from the Cornish Farmhouse Bacon Company, a family business close to Brickyard Farm Shop. The pigs are raised to high welfare standards, and Adrian aims to source all products as locally as possible.

BPEX butchery and product manager Keith Fisher said: 'It was great to return to the South West and meet the region's butchers, who did not fail to impress with a very high standard of pork products.'