Jamón Serrano 

2 September 2013 - Tomorrow the Fundación del Jamón Serrano Español will begin the second phase of our 2013 International Promotional Scheme, which will include a complete program of activities to continue promoting our Spanish Serrano ham in Germany, Denmark and Poland, northern European markets of great interest for the Spanish ham industry.

Our program will include presentations and courses for hotel and catering schools, tapas contests, presentations at institutions and other places of interest, workshops with the participation of Fundación companies, slicing and tasting workshops, meetings with the press, distribution and Horeca channels and participation in food fairs, such as ANUGA. We will also be receiving a third visit from European journalists and consumer motivators to our Fundación drying sheds.

Germany, Our First Destination

The program kicks off tomorrow, September 3, in Germany, where we will offer Serrano ham promotional activities within the framework of the European Project "Original Flavors. The Mediterranean Essence", in collaboration with PDO Ribera de Duero and PDO Baena Olive Oil.

The scheme includes presentations and workshops which will be held at the Cervantes Institutes in Frankfurt and Berlin, with the participation of importers and representatives of the hotel, catering and distribution sectors, members of the press, etc., as well as a training course offered at the Berlin School of Catering, a tapas contest, slicing and tasting workshops, tapas and gastro-workshops and other parallel activities. Spanish chefs Fernando del Cerro (one Michelin star for his Casa José restaurant in Aranjuez, Madrid) and Alberto Fortés will prepare a special menu based on Serrano ham, Baena olive oil and Ribera de Duero wines for all of the presentations.

The program will include the participation of Juan Pablo García-Berdoy, Spanish Ambassador to Germany, Juan José Sanz Aparicio, Spanish Consul General in Frankfurt, and Cristina Conde de Beroldingen, head of the Cervantes Institute in Berlin.

Denmark, ANUGA and the Visit of European Journalists

Our activities will continue in mid-September with the third visit of a dozen journalists from both general and specialized German, Polish and Danish media channels to Fundación drying sheds to observe first-hand the production and quality control processes, as well as the beneficial characteristics and values of Fundación Serrano ham.

The second stop of the Fundación's promotional tour will be in Denmark, where we will offer an extensive program of presentations and workshops in Copenhagen, encouraging the participation of prestigious professionals, importers, distributors, restaurateurs and buyers from this and other nearby countries. This activity will be complemented by courses at hotel and catering schools and with our participation in the Wine and Tapa Expo organized by Ekstra Bladet.

This phase of the Fundación's Promotional Scheme will wrap up with our participation at the ANUGA Food Fair, to be held in Cologne (Germany) in October. ANUGA, one of the most important and prestigious international food fairs, will bring together sector specialists from around Europe (producers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, food chains...) for five days, making this a reference point of international importance.

Fundación Institutional and Promotional Activity

During the first half of the year, the Fundación successfully carried out the first phase of our 2013 International Promotional Scheme with activities in Germany, Denmark, Vietnam, Poland and Japan.

In February the Fundación visited Germany, where we offered a complete program of commercial presentations and promotional activities in Munich and Berlin at hotel and catering schools and other institutions, as well as a series of workshops for restaurateurs, consumer motivators and members of the press.

The Fundación then moved on to Denmark, a market with high buying power of unquestionable interest for Spanish ham companies, where we participated in the Copenhagen Food Fair, the main food expo in this country. Here we offered tastings and showcooking, as well as training workshops and presentations for students in the hotel and catering sector.

Our promotional activities in northern European countries were complemented by a second visit from a group of German, Polish and Danish journalists to Fundación drying sheds.

The Fundación was also present in important Asian markets, among others. In Japan, the Fundación participated in coordination with the OECE (Spanish Meat Export Office), of which we are a member, at Foodex, the prestigious food expo held in Tokyo, where we also organized a series of presentations. We were likewise present at the 7th Food and Hotel Vietnam (FHV), one of the most important and prestigious international food fairs held in Asia, which brings together food sector specialists from Vietnam and other Asian markets.

On the institutional side, we can highlight the Fundación's recent participation in the European Commission Consultative Group on Agricultural Production, held in Brussels, where we discussed important issues regarding the future of Serrano ham, such as the possibility of transforming our TSG into a PGI, as well as other matters related to the protection of Quality Designations. Under discussion was Community Regulation 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, which includes Serrano ham.

The Fundación was likewise invited to participate in the AECOC Meat and Meat Products Congress, a forum devoted to analyzing sector growth and trends. Here we presented our promotional, communication, training and informational activities, stressing the need to transmit to the consumer the valuable properties and characteristics of our product in a sector in which negative news is often the norm.

And in May the Fundación participated in the Panel for Ham Characterization and Certification, part of the scientific program at the 7th World Ham Congress, held in the Portuguese city of Ourique, with a talk on "Serrano Ham, TSG or PGI?" We also took part in the social program with Fundación Serrano ham slicing and tasting demonstrations for congress participants, institutional representatives and members of the press.