Ibéricos Torreón makes its debuts in Panama, by Foods From Spain / ICEX

Ibéricos Torreón makes its debuts in Central America

As with Reserve wines, it takes time and patience to craft a Reserve Ibérico ham: It also takes time, patience, and perseverance to fulfill legal requirements to import this pork wonder to America.
 

Oriol Serra made all of SDS Internacional’s Facebook friends walk on the clouds and wish they were right next to him when he announced online he was slicing the first of the Ibéricos Torreón ham products that had just landed in Ciudad de Panamá. In the midst of that ceremony of opening boxes and describing their succulent contents, friends and followers experienced an Ibérico craving that only customers in Panama will have the privilege to enjoy in situ, in ecstasy.

A company mostly focused in the import and sales of wine, liquor and olive oil, SDS Internacional decided to develop a division devoted to gourmet foods to complement its product portfolio in Panamá. Ibérico products were a priority in this new endeavor.

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“Our target was to find an Ibérico producer who could offer a top quality artisanal product, with an optimum price-value relationship,” detailed Catalan-born Serra to www.foodsfromspain.com.

In this task the Spanish importer identified various providers who offered products with the high quality criteria the company was searching for the Panamá market. Some Spanish ibérico ham specialists he consulted made very positive remarks about the superior attributes of Ibéricos Torreón, which confirmed Serra’s intuition that this was the right Ibérico partner, because of this company’s tradition, entrepreneurial values, artisanal production criteria and consistent quality.

Ibéricos Torreón is a family business in Salamanca (Castile-Leon) devoted to the elaboration of acorn-fed hams and cured meats with a criterion of small, artisanal production, and a great respect for the culture of Ibérico pork.

The product line introduced in Panamá is ample and luscious. Ibérico ham and pork shoulders, including Torreón Selección 18-month aged recebo (raised in freedom and fed with natural fodder and cereal), and two bellota (acorn-fed) Reserve Ibérico hams, one cured for 24 months and the other for 36. These Ibéricos are presented as whole ham pieces with leg, but also boned in different formats, such as molded, ideal for machine slicing in the HORECA sector.

The embutidos (cured meats) line includes acorn-fed Ibérico chorizo, salchichón (cured pork sausage), caña de lomo (cured pork loin), and morcón, the latter available whole or in halves. Smaller vacuum-sealed packs with sliced chorizo, salchichón and 24-month Reserve Ibérico de bellota will be available for sale at delicatessen stores.

The import of Ibérico products is a tough endeavor in Panamá because of the country’s very complex requirements and legalization process resulting from governmental restrictions to European meat and dairy products. Government representatives even visit production facilities in the countries of origin to complete a homologation process required to approve import licenses, an exercise that may well last over two years. Thanks to Ibéricos Torreón’s experience in other markets as the US, that also impose great challenges to meat product imports, the process of importing their delicacies into Panamá was completed in few months.

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The products are available at the SDS International store at Parque Industrial Costa del Este, and it is expected they will be also found at other gourmet stores, five star hotels, Spanish and fine dining restaurants in Panamá City, shortly.

SDS Internacional was founded in Venezuela and in 2007 it decided to make a transition, moving to Panamá. Ibéricos Torreón launches the company’s division of animal food products. SDS expects to expand its foods from Spain portfolio in the next couple of months.

FOODS FROM SPAIN (ICEX, Instituto de Comercio Exterior de España)

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