Steve and Chris Pestell are twins and have been in partnership in the Buchery/Bacon business since 1986. They bought a Butchers Shop off their Father in Nelson who was also a Butcher and their Grandfather owned and operated a great butchery in London in the 50's, so it is definitely in their blood. In June 1998 they were offered the opportunity to buy the Rai Valley Bacon Co, which they jumped into guns blazing. The first couple of years Steve ran the Bacon Co at Rai Valley and Chris ran the butchery in Nelson. In October 2000 they moved into a purpose built factory in the Robinsons Complex in Stoke, Nelson, where they amalgamated the Butchery and the Bacon Co. The factory soon became too small so they had to increase the size to accommodate the growing demand in 2006. They still use the 50 year old DRY CURED recipe from the Rai Valley days. The Bacon is a hands on method of dry curing, the result is a delicious tasty, brown sugar cured, Manuka smoked bacon, that doesn't go watery in the pan. Another bonus with Pestell's Bacon & Hams they are all "GLUTEN FREE". They supply most supermarkets around the South Island, restaurants, cafes and distributors. Pestell's number 1 selling bacon is the Streaky Bacon and are currently working on a Streaky Bacon that is preservative free. At their factory in the Robinsons Complex they have a Retail Butchers Shop, so if you are in Nelson feel free to pop in and see the team at Pestell's.
