Spain's Ibérico hams can't cure fast enough for China's middle class
Spain's luxury Ibérico hams are becoming increasingly popular in China, who see it as a unique and healthy product.  With an increasing passion for pork products, rising incomes, and concerns over their own homegrown food, the Chinese have entered the market for Ibérico hams with gusto, despite paying higher prices than the US.  Figures from the Spanish Meat Export Office reveal that fresh pork from Spain to China, including heads, ears and other parts, rose 35% last year, making it the second largest market in volume after France. 

JABUGO, Spain — On a vast farm dotted with oak and cork trees, about 350 pigs are enjoying the final weeks of a short but blissful life. They roam freely, sleep outdoors or shelter in spacious pigsties. Above all, autumn is when they get to feast all day on acorns recently fallen from the trees.

“Pigs are known for eating everything, but when it comes to their favorite acorns, they are real connoisseurs and very selective — and the sweeter the acorn, the better,” said Juan Carlos Domínguez Lorenzo, 49, who was born on the farm and has been looking after its pigs since he was a teenager.

The way these pigs of Spain’s Ibérico breed are fed and raised here is a far cry from how most meats are produced almost anywhere, making the cured ham a delicacy prized for its unique texture and taste, which is enhanced by the sweet and nutty flavor of the acorns the pigs eat.

So when the World Health Organization, in a recent report, linked processed meats to colorectal cancer, the news came as an affront to many Spaniards, who have been eating cured hams produced this way for generations.