FERMÍN IBÉRICO PRODUCT LINE CONTINUES AWARD STREAK

Smoked Panceta Slices Honored as 2012 sofi™ Awards Finalist

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – Fermín, the first Spanish exporter of the legendary Ibérico and Ibérico de Bellota jamón and raw pork products, is continuing to garner top industry honors announcing today it has just been named again as a 2012 sofi™ award winner finalist. Fermín’s award streak began in 2011 when cuts from its artisanal product line won a Food &
Beverage Product Innovation Award from the National Restaurant Association and a 2011 sofi™ Gold Award from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT).

This year, Fermín’s Ibérico de Bellota is once again honored. Out of 1,935 entries submitted to NASFT, the highest number of entries the organization has ever received, Fermin’s Ibérico Smoked Panceta Slices were chosen as a NASFT sofi™ Award silver finalist in the outstanding meat, pâté or seafood category.

The prize-winning Jamón Ibérico comes from 100% pure Ibérico pigs and is cured for almost three years before the ham is ready for consumption. Ibérico de Bellota cured and raw cuts also come from the same breed but differ in that the Ibérico de Bellota feed exclusively on acorns (bellota) towards the end of their fattening period resulting in a buttery, nutty flavor profile. Located in the belly, Panceta is the Spanish name for pork belly. A cured meat, panceta is often associated with Italy but is also produced in Spain. “When you substitute Fermin’s Ibérico Smoked Panceta Slices for Italian Style Panceta or bacon,” says Raul Martín of Fermin USA, “You transform your favorite recipe from good to exceptional.”

A descendent of a wild boar that once inhabited the forests of the entire Mediterranean shoreline, the Ibérico is the last free-ranging hog in Europe, grazing on government-protected land in western Spain. A natural diet of acorns and herbs is not only reponsible for its taste but also results in a meat rich with high levels of monounsaturated fat, which has been linked
to heart-healthy benefits.

Fermín is a family company located in the picturesque village of La Alberca, just south of Salamanca in Spain. Since 1956, when patriarch Fermín Martín founded the company, the Martín family has been raising and slaughtering pigs to produce the highest quality heritage jamón (hams), embutidos (sausages), and raw pork products that epitomize the best of Spanish artisanal cuisine. Today, Fermín, a leader Ibérico husbandry and the first producer from Spain to receive USDA approval, has worked for decades with the same regional farms and still hand cuts every item with old-world craftsmanship that takes years to acquire.