As explanations go, Joe Byrne’s analogy between how to cook pork and two common items out of the fruit bowl is pure simplicity. You wouldn’t strip a banana or orange of its skin two days before you consume it, he explains, so leave the fat on your piece of pork until it’s served its purpose, and remove after cooking.
  “ Fat on meat is packaging in my terms, like skins on bananas and skins on oranges,” he said with passion.
   Straightforward words from a straightforward bloke, who is one half of the duo behind north coast company, Bangalow Sweet Pork. Joe Byrne has 30 years experience in an industry which is slowly turning in trend, thanks to the culinary comments of “foodies” and the power of the taste test.
   After five years hard work, Joe believes the product he and business partner Jim Berting created is now viewed as a benchmark – a revived reputation for a much-maligned meat which is proving worthy of re-appearance on the tables of discerning diners.
   Joe says he’s old enough to remember when all pork was tender and juicy, a trademark which ensured it a centre table position as Christmas day fare.
   He said changing times towards leaner animals did nothing for pork’s reputation and Bangalow Sweet Pork was devised in a bid to arrest the turning tide. “Setting the pork industry back 25 years...and proud of it,” is a favourite company statement.