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South Carolina Success
In the Edisto River Watershed near St. Matthews, S.C.,
Emile, Allison, Louis, and Lydia DeFelice have found their love for
agriculture. Starting out as a produce farmer, then experimenting with a
variety of livestock, Emile discovered that the surrounding oak and hickory
forests were right for one thing, niche pork production.
Caw Caw Creek Pastured Pork is a 200 acre farm,
ran by the DeFelice family. By finishing nearly 300 pigs per year, they farm
their certified crop land and produce high-quality pork that consumers in their
area demand.
“We got into niche pork production for a variety
of reasons,” said Emile. “We wanted to capitalize on our forest land and nuts,
and we believed that direct marketing was the way to go for us. We
discovered that the unit of value in pork is phenomenal. Every piece of pork
has a fan base. Some people love bacon, where as others love sausage, and some
love it all.”
The pastured hogs at Caw Caw
Creek Pastured Pork are allowed to roam freely in pastures and woods. They
rotate through, based on season, as they graze on grasses, peas and peanuts,
and eat acorns and hickory nuts. As a result, the most popular product
marketed from this operation is unique.
“Our fatback is a huge hit. This
came as a surprise to all of us, but our consumers enjoy our 3-4 inch thick
fatback product. We also make a pretty good hot dog,” said Emile.
The DeFelice family is proud to
say that they do little advertising. Other than a recently created website, all
of their advertising is word of mouth. Consumers enjoy their product and keep
coming back for more.
“If we advertised much more, I
think we would have more business than we could handle,” Emile said. “I have
local, regular family customers. It makes me happiest to sell top quality pork
product to our friends and neighbors for a fair price.”
Niche pork production has proven
itself to be quite successful for the entire DeFelice family of Caw Caw Creek
Pastured Pork. “There are many opportunities for small producers, like myself,
to get involved with niche production. I hope that people are inspired to be
different, and capitalize on their resources.”
For more information about Caw
Caw Creek Pastured Pork, visit their web site at
www.cawcawcreek.com. They can also
be reached at
happyhams@cawcawcreek.com or call
803- 917-0794.
Producer Feature Archive
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If you are a niche pork producer and would like to have your contact
information listed on the Niche Pork Web site, call the Checkoff’s Producer
Service Center at 1-800-456-PORK.
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