Jamon Iberico - tradition transformed into premium products
In Taiwan, it took 4 years for the best ham in the world, after it got all the approval’s necessary from the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, to be commercialized in this market and it is now presented on special shows staged in different bars and restaurants. The delay was caused by the long traditional curing process the meat must undergo before it can be put to sale (24-36 months) and by the increased demand existing at this time for Jamon Iberico.
This year, Taipei „ connoisseur’s” had a chance to fell the smooth taste of the finest Jamon Iberico – the Bellota- for $19 per 25 grams slices, but only between 1-25 March. The next batch will arrive in 2019, as announced
Mayfull Foods, on of Taiwan’s largest meat importers.
A similar show was held in a restaurant in Hong Kong, as China is becoming more and more interested in this premium/luxury product.
Prices are going up
In fact, the appetite manifested by Chinese customers for the traditional Spanish ham, especially for the „Bellota” type, has led to an increase in prices for these products. The lifting of import restrictions on the Chinese market for Jamon Iberico has diminished the volume of the delicacy on the domestic market since last November and led to a 10% increase in prices at the end of 2017.
Considering the fact that it can take up to three years to prepare the famous Iberian Ham and the producers from
Spain an Portugal are in a limited number it is easy to understand why any new market accessed will set a higher price for this product.
„It’s inevitable that the price in Spain is going to rise. The companies licenced to trade in China don’t have enough Jamon de Bellota to meet Chinese demand”, mentioned Roberto Batres, the director of Shanghai de Delaiberia Gold, for The Guardian.
In fact, the Chinese are so obsessed with the newly discovered ham that they tried to replicate the product by opening
a ham-cutting school and by importing raw frozen pork from Iberian pigs that they cured themselves. Still, the product
resulted is excessively salted, according to the experts. At the end of 2017, a 7.5 kg leg of Jamon Iberico was sold on the Spanish market at between 150 to 600 euros, depending on the quality of the product.
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