Julian Martin
The Origin - 1933
Our story begins in 1933 when Mr. Julián Martín García, grandfather of our current president, founded the company in the “Alto Campillo” in Guijuelo.
The first factory built with passion and the determination to offer our customers the best Iberico Ham of Guijuelo, cradle of this great treasure of Spanish gastronomy.
In Julián Martín we guarantee the traceability of our Iberico products from the field until we serve it at your table. Under strict supervision that certifies the racial purity of our Iberico pigs, the method of feeding, the correct slaughter and an optimal curing process.
The Julián Martín Group has own livestock and farms, as well as a slaughter plant and several specialized production facilities located in Guijuelo (Salamanca) and the Alentejo region (Portugal). In this way, the control of the complete production cycle is maintained, guaranteeing the quality and homogeneity of the elaborations.
Currently the Group has a workforce of more than 200 employees and markets its products through prestigious clients at a national level (for more than 40 years, the main Iberico supplier of El Corte Inglés) and in 35 countries on five continents.
The Origin - Alentejano Breed
The Raza Alentejana pig is a direct descendant of the Mediterranean wild boar. Due to its genetics and the lack of crosses with other breeds, it presents a great “rusticity” and adaptation to life in freedom and therefore registers a superior capacity of intramuscular fat storage.
Historically preserved in Portugal (without crosses), it is currently considered one of the purest breeds in the Peninsula. At this moment, the genealogical book of the Alentejo pig has only 9,000 registered individual animal
The Origin - Valle Ferreiros Estate
The dehesas of the Alentejo cover an area of 1,125,000 ha (35% of the total of the Peninsula) and have not suffered the overexploitation dehesas have suffered in Spain, given that only 20% of this area is used for production of this breed.
On our farm, Valle Ferreiros (500 hectares), the pigs are raised in freedom on a natural diet for at least one year before their entry into Montanera: The fattening of the pigs is not sought, but their growth and bone strengthening for a better harnessing of the Montanera.
At the moment when the acorns fall from the trees (From the end of October to the beginning of March), the pigs travel great distances in search of this delicacy, rich in oleic acid, which is the basis of its organoleptic excellence and helps reduce bad cholesterol.