Jamón Serrano 

The Fundación del Jamón Serrano Español has wrapped up the first phase of this year's international Promotional Campaign with notable press coverage after successfully completing the activities that were conducted in Germany, Denmark and Japan during the first quarter of the year.

In February the Fundación traveled to Germany for a full program of presentations and promotional activities in Munich and Berlin. To begin, a full program of training courses was offered at the Munich School of Catering, as well as the first phase of a tapas contest using Serrano ham, organized for all of the students at the school.

These courses were followed by Serrano ham slicing and tasting sessions to familiarize restaurateurs, members of the press and consumer motivators with the characteristics of our product.

From here, we moved to Berlin, where Fundación Serrano ham participated in sessions for the Berlinale, the prestigious film festival, including presentations at the receptions organized by the Spanish Embassy and Hogan Lovells International, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of the Spanish Embassy in Berlin. Guests included political authorities, diplomats and institutions, celebrities, politicians, members of the press, etc.

The activities held in the German capital wrapped up with a course of training programs for the Berlin School of Catering, a second stage of the Serrano ham tapas contest and a second Serrano ham slicing and tasting session for restaurateurs and the press.

Germany is the number one international market for Spanish Serrano ham. Last year, 960 tons of complete, bone-in hams and 6,300 tons of boned or sliced ham and portions were sold in the country.

Promoting Serrano Ham in Denmark

The next stop for the Fundación was Denmark, a market with high buying power an unquestionable interest for Spanish ham producers. Activities centered around the Copenhagen Food Fair, the most important food fair in Denmark, with various promotional pursuits in collaboration with PDO Ribera del Duero and Baena olive oil as part of the "Original Flavors, the Mediterranean Essence" program.

The success of the tasting sessions and live show cooking by chef Fernando del Cerro (one Michelin star at his restaurant, Casa José, in Aranjuez-Madrid) deserve special mention.

Promotional activities also included a Serrano ham presentation for authorities, press, importers and hotel and catering representatives at Pintxos Restaurant and Tapas Bar in Copenhagen, in coordination with Turespaña in Denmark and with the collaboration of chef Fernando del Cerro.

The next block of activities included Serrano ham training sessions for Danish catering students, held at the Catering Schools in Copenhagen, Odense and Aalborg, with the various phases of this year's tapas contest for the students of these three schools, as well as for students at the Hotel Management Schools in Aahrus and Sielkeborg.

European Journalists and Consumer Motivators Visit Spain

We complemented our promotional campaign in northern Europe by organizing, for the second year in a row, the visit of a group of journalists from Germany, Poland and Denmark so they could see firsthand the Serrano ham production, control and quality processes.

The group visited various drying sheds belonging to the Fundación to observe the production, quality control and certification processes. They also received information on the nutritional characteristics of Serrano ham and serving suggestions to transmit to their national media, and participated in a tasting session.

Fundación Serrano Ham, with Almudena Grandes at the European Literary Program

The strategy of the Fundación for promoting Serrano ham in cultural and social settings and sports events, both in Spain and abroad, was also initiated this year in Berlin, where the Fundación accompanied writer Almudena Grandes at a colloquium held at the European Commission headquarters in Berlin. The talk was organized by Instituto Cervantes and fell within the framework of the European Literary Program.

The Spanish novelist was the invited guest in a debate with the general public and representatives of the European Commission, EUNIC, the Goethe Institute, the French Institute, etc., on her latest novel. Following the session she joined everyone in tasting Serrano ham and wines from Ribera del Duero in an act which helped to spread our country's literary and gastronomic culture in the German capital.

Fundación Serrano Ham, in Japan

The burgeoning Japanese market was also one of this year's promotional objectives, The Fundación de Jamón Serrano, in connection with the OECE (Spanish Meat Export Office), to which the Fundación belongs, participated in Foodex, the prestigious food show held in Tokyo. We also participated in complementary activities such as the presentation, slicing demonstration and tasting at the prestigious HIllside Banquet Pachon restaurant in Tokyo for representatives of the restaurant, sales, distribution and media sectors.

Presentation at the AECOC Meat and Meat Products Congress

The interest generated by this training, informational and promotional activity has led the Fundación to participate in the recent AECOC Congress (Spanish Association of Commercial Codification) for Meat and Meat Products, a forum of great interest for analyzing the evolution and trends of our sector.

The Fundación manager, Jose Ramón Godoy, gave a presentation on the importance of communication, training and information on meat products: the need to transmit to the consumer the valuable properties and characteristics of the product in a sector in which negative news is often the norm.

He spoke of the communication, training and promotional campaigns carried out by the Fundación Jamón Serrano in various markets and through different channels, and explained our social network project.

Participation in the European Commission Consultative Group

The last action we would like to highlight is the participation of the Fundación in the European Commission Consultative Group for Agricultural Production, held in Brussels.

Issues of vital importance to our product were addressed, such as the possibility of transforming the TSG (Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) to PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), a designation which can provide greater protection and possibilities for the growth of Spanish Serrano ham. Other points were related to the protection of Quality Designations, working to implement EU Regulation 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, which includes Serrano ham.