World meat industry news

Recent figures have shown that Parma Ham ended last year with a production of approximately 8,462,000 hams, with the UK being an important market for the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product.

The UK held 12.4% of the total exports in 2015 with a turnover of £27.8 million, just below the USA, Germany and France.

Notably, pre-sliced Parma Ham made up 84.7% of the total sales in the UK, with almost 18 million packages sold last year. The UK was the first export market for pre-sliced Parma Ham.

Vittoria Capanna, president of the Parma Ham Consortium, said: “Our export is very positive. The strategic choice to focus on a balanced development is proving to be a winner and, beyond the annual figure, it is the medium-long term analysis that highlights the particularly brilliant results achieved: over the last ten years exports have risen by 50% and now represent 32% of yearly production.

“This is all the result of an excellent geographic diversification of the markets and an efficient team effort that the sector has been able to bring into play and that has enabled Parma Ham to become a leading brand on the international deli-meat scene.”

2015 saw a growth in sales of Parma Ham in all its export markets aside from Russia, where exports fell as a result of the import ban.

Parma Ham’s PDO status means the product must be prepared, processed and produced within the region and have characteristics attributable to that area.