Cinta Senese well-being: the secret to naturally superior meat

Friends, when we at Renieri talk about the excellent quality of our cured meats, our thoughts, perhaps surprisingly, don’t immediately turn to our aging cellars or secret spice recipes. Of course, those are very important, but there’s something that comes much earlier, something that for us is the true foundation of everything: the well-being of our animals, the quality of life led by our precious Cinta Senese.

or us, this means one thing: ensuring a life of well-being for our animals, always. It’s not just about “treating them well” in words, but about diligently and convincingly following clear principles, recognized worldwide, that ensure every pig a dignified, serene life that respects its nature.

Today, we want to chat with you, with our usual simplicity and sincerity, about these principles, which are often called the “5 Freedoms” or, if you prefer, the “5 languages of animal welfare.” We’ll tell you how these are at the heart of our way of raising Cinta Senese through our controlled supply chain and how, almost by a magic of nature, all of this translates into naturally superior meat, the perfect base for the cured meats you love.

These “5 languages of well-being” are like a promise we make to our animals, a commitment we take very seriously together with our partner breeders, who share this philosophy with us. Let’s look at them together, one by one, to better understand what they mean for us at Renieri and for our Cinta Senese:

Freedom from hunger and thirst: It seems like the most obvious thing, doesn’t it? But for us, it’s the foundation of everything. It means ensuring our Cinta Senese pigs always, and I mean always, have access to fresh, clean water and adequate, high-quality food. For us, this means letting them graze freely outdoors for more than 12 months, as they once did, in our woods and fields, where they find fresh grass, forest fruits like roots, tubers, and precious acorns. And when supplementation is necessary, because we are fully aware that to produce high-quality meats with high nutritional values, the diet must be complete and balanced, it is exclusively based on non-GMO Tuscan cereals: corn, barley, and fava beans. A healthy and natural diet, you see, is the first, fundamental step towards a healthy and strong animal.

Freedom from discomfort: An animal, to truly be well, must feel at ease in its environment; it must feel at home. Our Cinta Senese pigs, strong and robust animals by nature, grow to at least 150 kg (approx. 330 lbs) in weight by grazing outdoors. And to guarantee them all the space they need to move and feel free, there’s a precise rule in the Cinta Senese DOP production specifications that we fully embrace: a maximum of 5 to 10 pigs per hectare of land. And not just any land, but the wonderful and uncontaminated Sienese Hills. This type of extensive farming, with ample spaces, natural shelters where they can choose between sun and shade, ensures a comfortable, stimulating environment perfectly suited to the needs of this rustic breed.

Freedom from pain, injury, and disease: Health, of course, comes first. The natural and low-stress living conditions we offer, the absence of overcrowding, and a clean, well-maintained environment are our first and most effective defense against diseases. This approach drastically reduces the need for pharmacological interventions. As we have proudly told you before, no preventive antibiotics are administered in our supply chain. An animal that lives well, in a healthy and clean environment, is a naturally stronger, more robust animal and less prone to problems.

Freedom to express natural behavior: Every animal has its instinctive needs, its innate behaviors that it must be able to express to feel good. For our Cinta Senese, this means having the freedom to grufolare (rooting with their snout in the ground) for hours in search of food (it’s one of their favorite activities!), grazing freely, moving without restrictions, and, very importantly, socializing within the herd, because they are animals that love to be together. The extensive farming that we at Renieri so strongly support allows all of this, unlike more intensive and restrictive systems that, unfortunately, do not always respect their deepest nature. For us, respect for our territory and its biodiversity also comes from here, from allowing our animals to live according to their rhythms.

Freedom from fear and distress: An animal that is frightened, anxious, or stressed certainly cannot be well. That’s why we take great care to ensure that the environment in which our Cinta Senese live is as calm and serene as possible. Daily management by our partner breeders is always respectful and calm, avoiding any practices that could cause unnecessary fear or stress to the animals. A serene life, without fears, is fundamental for their balance and, as we will see, also for the final quality of the meat.

Some, hearing us speak with such passion about these attentions, might think that they are “just” an ethical matter, a way to have a clear conscience. And certainly, for us at Renieri, ethics and respect for life are fundamental, non-negotiable values, an integral part of our philosophy of genuine sustainability. But there’s much, much more. There’s a direct, almost scientific link between how an animal lives and the quality of the meat that then arrives on our tables.

The particular type of farming we have carefully chosen for our Cinta Senese, based on its complete well-being, gives its meat unique and inimitable flavor and characteristics. A serene animal, that has lived well, that has moved freely and fed naturally, develops more tender meats, with a better muscle structure. Specifically, Cinta Senese meat raised in this way, like the one we use for our Renieri cured meats:

• Has incredible positive effects on flavor and succulence: it is redder and much tastier compared to the meats of other pigs raised differently.
• Its fat is less firm and more fluid, and this makes it extremely pleasant on the palate, never heavy or cloying.
• And precisely this better fluidity of the fat, due to a greater presence of those famous “good unsaturated fats,” also allows for a more rapid and homogeneous diffusion of the aromas from the natural spices we use for preparing our cured meats, thus ensuring exceptional aromas and flavors.

Therefore, meat from happy animals – and by “happy” we mean precisely this: raised with full and constant respect for their well-being, free to express their nature – is simply, and objectively, better, healthier, and more suitable for becoming a superior quality cured meat. It’s not a fairy tale we tell ourselves, friends, but a reality that we at Renieri experience firsthand every day and that we hope you can taste in every one of our products.

This daily commitment to animal welfare is certainly not a passing fad for us, or a marketing strategy. It’s something we have in our blood, part of our family heritage. Our grandparents, and before them their fathers, taught us that the land and animals must be treated with the utmost respect, because ultimately, they are the ones who give us the best fruits and allow us to continue our work. This vision of agriculture and food production that places respect for nature and life at its center is a fundamental pillar of Renieri’s values.

Choosing our cured meats, therefore, does not just mean bringing home an excellent quality product with an unmistakable flavor. It also means supporting this ethical approach to farming, a way of working that deeply believes in the virtuous cycle between animal welfare, environmental health, and the goodness and genuineness of what we bring to our tables.

We hope that this in-depth look at the “5 Freedoms” and our constant commitment to the well-being of Cinta Senese Renieri has helped you understand even better what’s behind the quality we strive to offer you every day with our cured meats. It’s not just artisan mastery in processing, which is also fundamental, but it’s a story that begins much earlier, in the pastures and woods of our wonderful Sienese Hills, with a deep and sincere attention to life and to our territory.

When you choose what to eat, we invite you to think about this too. Informing yourself about how animals were raised is a way to make more conscious, more responsible choices, and to reward those who, like us, work every day with ethics and passion. Because we at Renieri are deeply convinced of one thing: true quality, the kind that conquers the palate and is good for the heart, is a virtuous circle that begins precisely with the well-being of our beloved Cinta Senese.