A Spanish ham producer recently announced that it sold the most expensive piece of traditional Iberian ham to a Japanese buyer for the outrageous price of 12,000 euros ($14,100).

Julio Revilla, president of Sierra Mayor Jabugo, an Iberian ham producer based in Corteconcepción, Spain’s Huelva region, said that the record-breaking piece of ham was prepared following the strict instructions of the buyer. They requested that the ham come from an Iberian pig at least two years old that had been grazing in the mountains of Sierra Mayor for at least 100 days. The animal had to gain at least 100 kilos during the time they spend grazing and that their diet consisted only of acorns and herbs. Finally, the curing period for the ham was five years, double the normal curing period for premium ham.

Photo: EdouardWm/Pixabay

According to a statement posted on the Sierra Mayor Jabugo website, “the award-winning ham comes from a 100% pure Iberian pig, Bellota quality, processed at two years of age and raised freely, together with his herd brothers, on the pastures of Sierra Mayor, located in the provinces of Badajoz and Huelva, having taken special care of the genetic purity of this Iberian pig and its natural diet during the 2014/15 campaign , exclusively based on acorns and herbs.”

The 10-kg piece of ham exceeded the mandatory five year curing period in January and was delivered to the buyer last month. Priced at a whopping 12,000 euros, the Iberian ham was already featured on Japanese TV show “The Fair Price” and its owner has been presented with a Guinness Record certificate for the most expensive piece of ham in the world.

 

A piece of premium ham prepared by Sierra Mayor Jabugo sells for about 1,500 euros ($1,800) in Spain, but the company claims that the special requirements of the Japanese client justify the eight-time price increase. Well, if they really want to go all out, they should hire this guy to cut their ham.