Today you are the company's longest-serving employee, how have you experienced the evolution of the factory?
Regarding the way the products are prepared, the process, the use of technology… there have been huge changes. When I started working here, we weighed the hams with a steelyard balance, and then we switched to scales; we used to apply the oil with a rag, and now it's a completely mechanized process; before, we took notes with white chalk on the wall, a task we now do with modern computers; we used to stamp the hams with a blowtorch, and nowadays they come from the slaughterhouse already inked. A litany of changes, all for the better… On the other hand, for many years now, the animals have been transported according to strict hygiene and sanitation standards, hanging on rails in perfectly equipped trucks. In this respect, I'm also struck by other routines that have disappeared, such as pouring the fat into buckets and then dumping them into a truck, because now it's deposited in containers that go directly to the fat factory for reuse.
Which change catches your attention the most?
Everything is more convenient now and the work is done faster, which means we're also working with larger quantities. We've gone from slaughtering 40 pigs a day in Ledrada to currently slaughtering 200 Iberian pigs daily in Guijuelo.
6. What do you think when you realize that you are preparing orders for Iberian products that travel thousands of kilometers to reach such disparate points on the planet as South Africa, Sweden, Mexico or Portugal?
This is a great achievement, since years ago it was unthinkable that such a Spanish, such a special product could be exported to such different countries.
Are you a good consumer of Iberian products?
Yes, I really like chorizo and salchichón.
Which one do you prefer and at what times of day do you enjoy it?
I don't have a preference, I love snacks on weekends, to enjoy them with my family, with the children…
And how do you prepare Iberian pork? In the traditional way, or do you try the new recipes that our Top Chef Antonio Arrabal is launching?
In the kitchen I am traditional, I like meats in the classic way, cooked very simply, grilled and with salt.
