About Us

It all started for us about 3 years ago when we read a book about the meat industry. We already had an idea how the meat we were eating was produced, but having it confirmed in print really spurred us on to change our shopping habits. Not long after this we aquired the use of some land close to our home, so we decided to have a go at raising our own meat for the freezer. We were already growing most of our own vegetables, so it seemed a natural progression. We had no experience in keeping livestock, so off we went on a pig keeping course at Pig Paradise. There we met Tony York, a great guy whose passion for rare breed pigs soon rubbed off on us. We've been keeping pigs now for 2 years and are the proud owners of 'Cynthia', our Oxford Sandy & Black breeding sow. Learn more about her on the next page. The sausage business was really an accident because raising pigs the 'natural way' isn't cheap and we needed some income to meet our ever increasing food bill & we also needed an outlet for our meat. By now we were buying our meat from Brigg Farmers Market where some friends had a sausage stall. When they announced they were to retire, we agreed to take it over even though we had no idea how to make sausages! A local, retired butcher with a passion for sausages became our saviour, teaching us the 'tricks of the trade'. So here we are, many new friends, new skills and lots of laughs later, The Appleby Sausage Co. was born!