Our Mangalitza pigs

As well as our British Rare Breeds, we also have a small herd of pedigree Mangalitza pigs, renowned for their amazing flavour and higher fat content, they will become the basis of our new charcuterie range this summer.

Curly coated pigs were once a common sight in the UK and historically found in the county of Lincolnshire, they were known as “Lincolnshire Curly Coat”. They began to be exported to Hungary in the 1920s where they won great acclaim and were crossed with a curly coated pig native to the country, thus creating the Mangalitza.

The Mangalitza was formerly bred as a lard pig, and animals were large and round. Because of the drop in demand for lard, the breed's popularity has declined and it is now regarded as a "rare breed".

Sadly with the increase of more intensive farming methods and a preference for the leaner, more commercial hybrids, the number of curly coats declined in numbers and the last one died in 1972.
By 1990 the number of Managlitza pigs was in decline and thankfully farmers across Europe began preserving this important breed. In 2006 the first ever Mangaliza pigs were imported into the UK by dedicated pig farmer Tony York at Pig Paradise.