Ham eats ham: maker of Surryano acquired by Burger’s Smokehouse

Edwards Surryano ham is still available… for now. A whole ham will run you $355 plus shipping.

Chuckeye Dave writes with some disturbing news: Edwards Virginia Smokehouse has been acquired by Burger Smokehouse. Like a celestial event we don’t know about till long after it happens, this transition actually happened nearly a year ago on August 31, 2021.

Edwards was generally considered the premier brand in aged country hams, with a price to match. Then a fire destroyed their smokehouse in 2016, ruining $3.5 million worth of product including its popular Wigwam ham and the legendary long-aged Surryano ham. (It was a search for an Edwards replacement that led us to our fortunate discovery of Benton’s Country Hams.) This fine article in the local newspaper details the Edwards backstory up until the difficult decision to sell to Burger, which had “stepped in to provide hams and other products for Edwards” after the fire. In an interview with Deli Times, Burger CEO Steve Burger confirmed, “we have been producing Edwards’ products since the fire almost six years ago, so customers can expect to continue receiving the same high-quality products they have come to associate with the brand.”

So wait a minute. That means that the secret new batch of Surryano we tasted at the Fancy Food Show in 2017 was actually made by Burger Smokehouse. At the time we said it “had the perfect balance of salt and smoke but, beyond that, it was incredibly tender like a fine-grained filet mignon.” Does this mean Burger produced and aged the ham at their own smokehouse under Edwards’ supervision? If so that could be the best of both worlds: same product quality with improved distribution and financial resources. But consolidation in the food industry typically leads to a simplified product line with the elimination of specialty items that appeal to a narrow audience—just look at what happened at Hershey’s after they acquired Joseph Schmidt Chocolates, a maker of artful chocolate truffles headquartered in San Francisco. (They shut it down.)

The Deli News article informs us that Burger owns Clifty Farm Country Meats and Hobe’s Country Hams in addition to its own Burger Smokehouse, and that Burger is “the industry leader in cooked country ham for deli and meat departments across the country.” Are we concerned that a company focused on foodservice and wholesale business might be less comfortable with direct-to-consumer/direct-to-restaurant sales? Yes we are.

Clifty Farm, which once had a product line broad enough to justify a catalog, is now down to 7 products available for mail order. Their best selling product, the Country Ham Section, is described as “ready to cook” and comes with a honey glaze to be added by the consumer. Instructions on the website advise the buyer to soak the ham overnight to get rid of excess salt and scrub any mold off with a wire brush. Hobe only sells products in retail packaging and its website lacks a shopping function. Burger Smokehouse sells a wide variety of meat products including country hams available for mail order; again the purchaser is provided with cooking instructions for an aged country ham.

Edwards Wigwam Ham is now available pre-cooked with glazing instructions.

We do enjoy a slice of country ham fried in a skillet for breakfast, but our usual practice with our Benton’s hams is to shave off a sliver and eat it out of hand—same process as for Serrano or Prosciutto hams. So we’re relieved that the Edwards Virginia Smokehouse site still offers Surryano which it describes as “ready to serve”. But Edwards now sells spiral sliced glazed hams and a “cooked country ham” as well as a variety of non-ham products.

We, and Dave, wonder if the increased attention recently for Benton’s Country Hams reflects a desire to support what might be the last uncompromised country ham purveyor. (Almost—check out Newsome’s Kentucky Ham.) Please give Allen Benton your business and keep him independent!