Iberian hams from Spain in international markets
The Interprofessional Association of Iberian Pork (ASICI) has finished on Tuesday the second year of the Ham Passion Tour with a training event at the Superior School of Hospitality of Madrid led by chef Sergio Fernández. An activity that has already been carried out with great success in participation in cities such as London (University of West London), Paris (Lycee Jean Drouant and Liceo François Rabelais de Dugny), Berlin (Brillat Savarin Schule) or Bilbao (Higher School of Hospitality) and that is the finishing touch to the second year of the “Ham Passion Tour” campaign.
The Training Day, which was attended by students from the last year and with professors who will act as prescribers and amplifiers of the messages of the campaign, was organized with the aim of “arousing interest in the Hospitality Schools environment so that incorporate this training in your programming. It is essential to promote the knowledge of a gourmet product as recognized as Iberian Ham and integrate it into the training of the best centers in Europe, ”said ASICI President Antonio Prieto during the event. 720 students, teachers, chefs and bloggers have attended the Masterclasses held in Paris, Berlin, London, Bilbao and Madrid.
During the day, ASICI spokesmen presented the audiovisual pieces of the campaign and provided training on the product and its differential values, the traceability system, the correct identification and labeling or the novel “Iberian” APP that allows you to consult the traceability of the piece. The event has ended with a professional cutting course and creative plating, a sensory tasting and, of course, a practical section in which students have received the theoretical notions necessary to properly cut an Iberian Ham.
Exclusive workshops in each country
One of the great novelties of the second year of the campaign has been the exclusive and exciting workshops that have been held in London, Hamburg, Paris, Madrid or Mexico City. These educational workshops have had influential chefs, who have created unique and avant-garde menus around Iberian Ham, such as Mikel Alonso (at the KO Ma restaurant in Mexico City,) José Pizarro (at The Good Housekeeping Institute in London), Patricio de Diego (in the Le Miroir skyscraper in Paris), Jesús Díaz (in the renowned Portomarin restaurant in Hamburg) or Javier Estévez (in the multidisciplinary space Park 36 in Madrid).
One of the highlights of the workshops has been sensory tastings guided by experienced professionals from SIPA (Service of Analysis and Innovation in Products of Animal Origin of the University of Extremadura), where journalists have explained everything related to the product in a dynamic and sensory way. To complete the experience, these tastings have been complemented with a tasting menu around the Iberian Ham, in which the informants have been able to observe its versatility and the different ways in which it can be introduced into gastronomy.
Exceeding all expectations
The “Ham Passion Tour” project started with the objective of strengthening, consolidating and developing the positioning of the Iberian Hams of Spain in strategic international markets such as France, Germany, United Kingdom and Mexico, as well as Spain. So far, the campaign has managed to appear in 1,200 international articles that reached more than 200 million people, create a digital community that exceeds 150,000 followers or get 3.2 million views of campaign videos. In just two years, the campaign has reached more than 400 million potential consumers.
The “Ham Truck Tour” or itinerant truck that has toured Europe, tastings in gourmet stores, press trips to production areas with the assistance of the mainstream media, joins the training sessions in Hospitality and Workshops for press. sectorial and lifestyle of each country, outdoor advertising, campaign in magazines, promotional videos or digital campaign, allowing to generate 216 million impacts only in the second year of the project.
The app that guarantees all the traceability of the Iberian
During the event, the president of ASICI, Antonio Prieto, has highlighted the positive evolution of the Iberian in recent years and how the Traceability and Quality System of the Iberian sector, ÍTACA, which guarantees the traceability of the productions of Iberian. According to the president of ASICI, “the future of the sector is built on the quality, traceability, transparency and internationalization of Iberian products”.
Prieto highlighted the extra guarantee that the Iberian APP has meant for the consumer by allowing to check the traceability of Iberian Hams and Palettes based on the information recorded in ITACA. Free, interactive and available for iOS and Android devices, in just over a year it has obtained 22,650 downloads with which users have made more than 205,000 seals readings. Today, the revolutionary APP collects the information of more than 60 million pieces identified with seals since the entry into force of the Quality Standard (RD 4/2014).
