Everything but the oink

If we had to sum up all our principles in one phrase, we would say exactly, “Everything but the oink.” If we could add a little more, we would say, “Our pigs are raised in such a way that wasting even a single gram of their meat would be a real shame.”

Our animals live in a semi-free range in the forests of Casentino, where they feed on the fruits of the land. We do not use antibiotics or hormones to make them grow faster, and we respect the rhythms of nature. That’s why all of Grigio del Casentino® meat is delicious, healthy, and genuine.

This alone would be a good reason not to waste it, but the issues are actually twofold. The first concerns ethics, and the second concerns taste. Let’s take a closer look at them.

Respecting the animal, the first rule of our work

Those who shop at the supermarket hardly think about the life of each animal when they put a steak or sausage in their cart.

For the general public, meat is a consumer good like any other, an item that can be mass-produced without much thought. For us, it’s exactly the opposite. We are the first to say that meat consumption should be moderate, sustainable, and conscious.

Animal welfare is sacred to us, and every pig must live well, in full respect of its nature and instincts. Our pigs are free to root in the mud, dig for roots, and lie in the sun. They are pigs that live like pigs.

The idea of slaughtering these animals to make two hams and throwing away the rest is inconceivable. Meat is a precious gift that we cannot waste. It’s a matter of respect for the animal and for the time we have dedicated to it.

Ethical and sustainable farming, like in the past

In our grandparents’ time, all the breeding farms were sustainable. Only the pigs that were needed were slaughtered, and all the meat was used, because wasting it simply wasn’t an option. As we have seen in our article on scraps, it was also a matter of necessity.

Even the less noble parts were recovered and valued with wisdom and care. We can say it out loud, excellence was born from necessity. Offal and the fifth quarter have given rise to some of the finest artisanal cured meats you can taste. And this brings us to the second point.

From waste to precious ingredients

Nothing can be wasted from the pig because we must respect the animal and all its meat, but also because it would be crazy to waste such goodness.

As we have already said, the perfect genetics, semi-free range farming, natural diet, and artisanal processing are precious ingredients of Grigio del Casentino® products. With an animal raised and processed in this way, there are no scraps, only cuts to rediscover.

Even talking about noble cuts and poor cuts makes little sense. Those who still believe there are first-class and second-class parts clearly have never tasted our Capaccia or Sambudello, made precisely from the so-called scraps.

A culinary offering that stands out

We are proud to offer uncommon products that some people might not even know about. We want to offer good meat, which for us also means healthy, ethical, and sustainable, and to bring back to life the flavors of the past and the genuine taste of simple, well-made things.

To do so, we must move away from the dominant trend, from forced production, and from the homologation of flavors to return to short supply chains, semi free range farming, ancient recipes, and a truly respectful approach to the animal and all the meat it can provide.

Today, we no longer need to recover all the meat, but we continue doing so out of passion. We work with ethics and responsibility and carry forward a project that is based exactly on these values. Nothing can be wasted from our pig, because nothing is to be thrown away. Everything can be transformed into a tasting experience with the right processing.