How an ancient art, a relentless pursuit, and a partnership forged across continents gave rise to a breakthrough in modern meat processing
By Eben van Tonder, 14 June 2025
Introduction
Some stories take a year to unfold, and then some stories take a lifetime. This is the story of reformed bacon, not just as a product category, but as a calling. It is the story of a dream pursued over two decades, through failure, loss, and rediscovery, until one day, under the heavy clouds of a Nigerian storm, it finally came together.
The Difference Between Formed and Reformed Bacon
In the world of processed meats, formed bacon refers to bacon shaped into regular logs using moulds or grids. It’s a standard industrial technique. Reformed bacon, however, is more ambitious. It’s about taking small pieces of meat, trim, offcuts, fragments, and fusing them into a single, cohesive log that behaves like whole-muscle bacon. Done well, it holds together in the pan, slices cleanly, and delivers a sublime balance of fat and lean.
What most don’t realise is that the science behind this is ancient. Long before binding proteins were studied in labs, the method of pressing and binding meat was used in European peasant kitchens and eventually codified in the monastic traditions of Austria and Germany. The basic process behind pressed ham is nearly identical to that of reformed bacon. It simply involves longer cooking. Originally, the tools were rudimentary: wooden forms, knives, mortars, and pestles. Today, we have grinders, emulsifiers, stainless-steel moulds, and industrial smoking chambers. But the essence remains unchanged.
A Personal Obsession Begins
My own obsession with reformed bacon began in the early 2000s. I was convinced that it was possible to create a perfect restructured meat product: one that wouldn’t break apart when removed from its packaging, that would hold its shape in the pan, and that would taste like something better than the sum of its parts.
Oscar and I had just launched Woody’s Consumer Brands. Through the support of Profet, I travelled to England for almost a year to collaborate with British producers and explore the technologies available. We had the drive. We had the vision. But the project was a failure. Not a single one of our objectives was met.
Woody’s shifted to producing ordinary bacon at scale. But I never abandoned the dream of reformed bacon. Or rather, it never abandoned me. Over the following years, I delved deeper and deeper into the science, examining protein mechanics, pH effects, amino acid interactions, and the roles of heat, cold, and mechanical action. It was an overwhelming body of knowledge. I had no idea how much I’d need to master before I could return to the work we began in 2011, when I first officially launched the reformed bacon project.
A Turning Point in Austria
The turning point came with Christa Berger. An Austrian trained in cultural anthropology, with a deep respect for both ancient traditions and modern food processing, Christa had grown up in the Alps. She developed a remarkable understanding of meat-curing heritage.
It was Christa who introduced me to the archives and practical knowledge held in Austria’s monastic institutions, repositories of meat science techniques passed down and preserved across centuries. We began working with the Almi spice company and their exceptional team of young scientists. The project began to take shape again. Concepts I had explored 10, 15, even 20 years ago began to resurface and combine in new ways. Christa and I would speak every evening, working through technical hypotheses, testing theories, connecting dots.
In Nigeria, where I had the freedom to work beyond the gaze of corporate meat processors, I started testing our emerging theories. A week ago, I told Christa that while I liked our direction, I fundamentally disagreed with a core mechanism in mainstream reformed bacon theory. She listened and calmly replied:
“Of course, the theory is wrong. A better approach would be a, b, and c.”
That night, the solution was born.
Breakthrough in Nigeria
The next morning, I implemented two variations of Christa’s insight. One of them worked brilliantly. For the first time, the product held. I wasn’t focused on colour or flavour development! This was about binding, weight loss, and slicability. It needed to perform like pressed ham: sliceable on a ham slicer, at ambient temperature, with minimal structural loss.
It required more attention to detail than any other product I’ve ever developed. Every single factor, from hydration technique to mechanical treatment, had to be re-examined and perfected. But finally, after 23 years, I had something I was proud of.
The Cost of the Journey
Last night, I became sentimental. I thought about my mother—her descent into dementia and Alzheimer’s during these years, and her final days, which I missed while travelling in Nigeria. I remembered the last gatherings with my brothers and our children. I looked at photos of the kids growing up.
Tristan and Lauren once joked that they’d inscribe on my gravestone:
“Our Dad Tried.” They grew up watching me return home week after week, having failed to produce the breakthrough I was chasing.
When I met Christa, our earliest conversations were about salt and ancient curing. I once told her that the structure and clarity she brings into my life might be the key to pulling together the strands of both my work and my identity. That prediction turned out to be true. A woman raised in a farming village in the Alps helped me unlock what I couldn’t in 23 years of effort.
And yes, as we laughed last night, this journey has been the equivalent of a university degree—because oh, the things I have learned.
A Slice and a Storm
This morning, with torrential West African storms pounding the coastline, I stood in the factory and had a warm, flavourful slice of reformed bacon for breakfast. I thought about the failures. I thought about the friendships. I thought about the science, the monks, the factories, the years. And I smiled.
Because it was worth it. Every single step.
This is part of a series, Our Bacon Stories.
🐛 Earthworm Express Closing Note
At Earthworm Express, we don’t just publish science. We publish stories! This story, spanning more than two decades, stands as a testament to obsession, tradition, innovation, and partnership.
For more on reformed meat, ancient curing traditions, and industrial breakthroughs in sausage and ham production, stay tuned. We’re just getting started.
– Eben van Tonder
Founder of Earthworm Express, Origins Global Meats, and ReEquip Africa