
Spaniards face ham shortage as Chinese market gets taste for jamón ibérico - ranit
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/26/spaniards-face-ham-shortage-as-chinese-market-gets-taste-for-jamon-iberico
======
danso
Besides this ham, evidently Chinese demand has been blamed for the global
shortage of avocados [0] and the lack of butter in France [1]. I've personally
most noticed the effect when it comes to wide-release movies, in which the
heroes manage to find some reason to end up for a brief scene in China, or to
use Chinese brand products -- Civil War, Transformers, and Robocop come to
mind. There's also the suspicion that American movies have had to be more
generic in their themes and dialog to be easier to translate/localize for the
Chinese. Ghostbusters and Deadpool were not eligible for China's market
because of their supernatural and otherwise offensive content, so it's not
hard to believe that moviemakers will have to work harder to justify such
content [2].

As an American, seeing these examples is still kind of amusing to me in a
karmic way. I assume whatever annoyance or alienation I feel is just a small
bit of how the rest of the world has felt the past 50 years, having to
regularly adapt to and adopt strange influences and demands because they were
popular in America (Sorry about "Jersey Shore", high fructose corn syrup, the
backlash against MSG, and the cocaine trade).

[0] [https://phys.org/news/2017-05-china-blame-global-avocado-
sho...](https://phys.org/news/2017-05-china-blame-global-avocado-
shortage.html)

[1] [http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/09/news/economy/butter-
shortage...](http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/09/news/economy/butter-shortage-
europe/index.html)

[2] [https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/08/did-you-
catch-t...](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/08/did-you-catch-the-
ways-hollywood-pandered-to-china-this-year)

~~~
jfoutz
Only 20 foreign movies are allowed into China per year. Unless part of the
movie takes place in China.

Lots of movies have a special cut, just for that reason.

~~~
danso
Modern blockbuster movies are already plagued with hectic editing and an
overabundance of excuses-for-people-to-be-making-a-helicopter-landing. But
some of the Chinese scenes/collaboration have worked out nicely. I can't be
the only American ignorant of Chinese cityscapes. The Shanghai scene in
"Skyfall" was one of the most movie's visually memorable images. Maybe
"Pacific Rim"'s latter half would have taken place in Hong Kong without
concern about the Chinese market (its title is _Pacific_ Rim, after all, and a
movie about robots beating monsters has a lot of freedom to be in contrived
places). But apparently its popularity at the Chinese box office helped pave
the way for a sequel, despite its disappointing receipts in the U.S.
[https://qz.com/110683/pacific-rim-trashed-hong-kong-but-
won-...](https://qz.com/110683/pacific-rim-trashed-hong-kong-but-won-over-
china-with-a-record-opening-day/)

~~~
nkoren
Random trivia: significant parts of that Shanghai scene weren't in Shanghai. I
did quite a double-take when bond walked off the street in Shanghai and into
the lobby of my accountant's tower, here in London.

~~~
rainbowmverse
Other interesting examples:

Longmire, set in Wyoming, never set foot in Wyoming.

The Walking Dead has moved on to Virginia, but it's still filmed here in
Georgia. Everyone complains about the grass "being cut," but that's realistic.
It just doesn't grow, especially when there's no rain.

No one comments on how weird it is that, early on, the military firebombed
downtown Atlanta to give survivors an edge, even though most of the population
is out in the suburbs and exurbs. Torching all the population centers along
I-85, I-20, and University Parkway would have given more people a clearer path
to defensible locations. I don't care because it was a great scene, but it's
weird how people's pedantry is rarely informed by actual knowledge.

------
angarg12
We spaniards are just absolutely terrible at marketing. Every time that I see
how italians have managed to convince the world to consume their produces, I
feel ashamed. And when we finally manage to get recognition, we can't meet the
demand because we are not set up to deal with international demand.

I hope this trend continues and we find new, healthier ways to expand our
economy.

~~~
pjc50
I suspect a lot of that success for Italy comes from exporting Italians - and
then re-exporting Italian food via New York and Chicago, the homes of pizza.

For whatever reason there don't seem to have been nearly so many Iberian-
Spanish immigrants, possibly they went to South America instead. Which has
also been quite successful at exporting Spanish-language food..

~~~
rjbwork
True. In the past 2 weeks I have eaten Brazilian (not spanish, but south
american), Argentine, Mexican, and Italian.

------
mc32
The salient part was that it takes five acres per swine. They only have two
hinds each... And they can only raise them in two areas of Spain. Seems
production is pretty constrained by resources (in this case land with oak
trees). That combined with 48-mo curing makes it hard to scale up.

And we used to complain about almond production consuming too many resources
(water) per output...

~~~
kaoD
We have a saying here in Spain: from swine, even the gait.

Yes, they only have two hinds each, but front legs are sold too (paletilla),
papada (jowl), morro (snout), manitas (hoof), lengua (tongue), oreja (ears),
various embutidos (cold meat) made traditionally stuffing meat and fat inside
pork intestines (like chorizo, salchichón...)

And of course everything else that's traditionally edible anywhere in the
world (loin, ribs, etc.) EDIT: except muslim countries of course.

~~~
kevinconaway
> We have a saying here in Spain: from swine, even the gait.

The American version is “everything but the oink”

~~~
kaoD
Oh, we eat the oink too! ;)

------
EugeneOZ
I live in Spain - a lot of jamon still in shops, prices are the same. Glad to
see people of China love it, but there is no shortage of jamon, definitely.

~~~
dazc
But not all jamon is the same , apparently.

Not, alas, to my typical Northern English palette though.

~~~
virgilp
No, it's not. You're going to find it very hard to get Jamón Ibérico de
Bellota outside Spain - from what I saw, they mostly export the jamón serrano.
I'm pretty sure you can make the difference between the two - though, to be
completely honest, it's not THAT big and I'm not sure it's worth the price
difference.

~~~
baby
You always have nice and expensive jamon iberico de bellota restaurants in
France. It’s good! If you’re in Lyon there is one in les halles de bocuse

~~~
bambax
You can find it in some supermarkets too, at least in Paris. There is even a
chain of stores named after bellota that mostly sells it (and a little caviar
too): [https://www.bellota-bellota.com/en/magasins](https://www.bellota-
bellota.com/en/magasins)

It is, indeed, an exceptional product. IMHO, nothing comes close (in that
category of products).

------
garyclarke27
Worth every penny -Spanish/Portuguese Iberico ham is sensational, melts in
your mouth whilst bursting with flavour. As good as the best: Japanese Tuna
Sashimi, Scottish grass fed Rib Eye steak, Iclandic Cod, US CheeseBurger,
Bordeaux Wine, Thai Dom Yum Goong, Indian Tandori Chicken, Chineese Peeking
Duck, Berlin Curryworst, Portuguese Custard Tart, Italian Margarita Pizza,
French Butter Croissants or even Mcdonald’s French Fries!

~~~
dagw
_Worth every penny_

Yes and no. Plenty of "good enough" Spanish/Portuguese Iberico ham is
definitely worth it. The super high end stuff costing ~€100/kg that this
article seems to largely be about I probably wouldn't consider "worth every
penny" and I'd probably rather have twice as much ham costing 'only' €50/kg
given a choice.

~~~
bambax
Have you tried bellota? It's very different from "simple" spanish ham, and,
IMHO, well worth the extra price.

------
oblio
This is actually good - we want China as integrated in the world economy as
possible and we definitely want them to spend and open up to outside
influences, including culinary. The world (and even China itself) doesn't need
another Qing period.

~~~
Cthulhu_
It's nice to see China starting to import more - I got the impression for a
long time that China was largely an export country (like a lot of electronics
and such are made there). Should look up some figures before continuing to
make such assumptions though.

edit:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China)
says China's the #1 exporter and #2 importer of goods in the world, so, never
mind :p

~~~
oblio
It depends also what kind of goods they're importing. I'm far from an economic
expert but importing processed goods probably creates stronger economic,
social and political ties than importing raw goods.

------
gaius
This must be how the Peruvians felt when Western vegans ate all their quinoa
[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-
stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa)

~~~
briandear
And that Guardian article was dispoven nonsense:
[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dont-worry-
eating-...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dont-worry-eating-
quinoa-helps-peruvian-farmers-180958639/)

------
bane
The first time I visited Spain it was as a temporary launch-off point to get
somewhere else. I ended up returning a short-time later for a 5 day visit just
because the food was so good. I'm pretty much convinced that Spanish pork,
cheeses and wine may be the best in the world. Italian cold cuts and French
cheese and wine seem like very good efforts in comparison. (okay, I'm think
there's a reasonable run-off between wines from Spain, Argentina and Chile for
best)

I've spent years since then trying to even emulate the humble jamón bocadillo
locally to no success. It's becoming something of an obsession.

------
partycoder
It is already very expensive outside Spain. A similar, more affordable ham is
Jamón Serrano.

~~~
lobster_johnson
Note that "serrano" is not as strictly protected as a term as ibérico, which
needs to confirm to the rules of the _Denominación de Origen_ [1]. Only a
handful of serrano brands are D. O. (and will be clearly marked as such on the
packaging), and the stuff sold in American supermarkets, for example,
generally aren't among those brands. That doesn't mean that you can't find
good, cheap "plain" serrano, of course.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denominaci%C3%B3n_de_Origen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denominaci%C3%B3n_de_Origen)

~~~
partycoder
Jamón Serrano does not have Spanish DO protection status but has an European
agricultural protection status known as TSG.

This denomination establishes that the ingredients/materials and quality are
subject to certain standard for that given product (but does not constrain the
origin of the product).

For a product consumed in a regular basis rather than on special occasions
this might be enough.

------
zman0225
This is particularly interesting. Having tasted Iberico, I just realized on
similarities between it and Yunnan Ham, which I grew up on.
[https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/mgx3b4/china-has-
an-...](https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/mgx3b4/china-has-an-
insatiable-appetite-for-spains-beloved-iberico-ham)

------
JumpCrisscross
> _But demand is now threatening to outstrip supply_

Why isn’t the price being adjusted?

~~~
icebraining
It is. It's literally the continuation of that sentence: _" But demand is now
threatening to outstrip supply, leaving Spaniards facing steep price rises in
their most prized Christmas delicacy."_

And in the third paragraph: _" it is pushing up the price by as much as 10%"_.

And in the sixth: _" It’s inevitable that the price in Spain is going to
rise"_

~~~
pbhjpbhj
10% is not large, fruit prices in UK supermarkets seem to have risen by at
least that this year.

Incidentally, anyone know of a project monitoring food price changes in UK for
the major supermarkets?

------
Cthulhu_
This is a good thing for the Spanish economy at least - they can charge higher
prices, increase production, export more, etc. Some new jobs, probably not
that much, but hey. They'd rely less on European subsidies (iirc Spain
received a lot of agricultural subsidies - mind you last time I heard this was
like ten years ago, idk if that's still up to date)

~~~
wklauss
> increase production

Maybe, but it's a risky bet.

It takes years to cure a leg of good jamón ibérico and China is buying more
today, but also investing in curing its own using the same methods and pig
breeds.

Same goes for the US. They now have serrano ham in Texas and Virginia,
produced with the same breed of pigs used in Spain for ibérico. Only a matter
of time before they start selling jamón "ibérico" made in the US.

------
Const-me
We have a good one, too:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Njeguški_pršut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Njeguški_pršut)

------
lexxed
Hope the chinese doesn't get a taste of bitcoins.. oh wait..

------
realworldstuff
No one HAS to sell to Chinese markets.

~~~
gonvaled
No idea what you mean.

No one needs to sell to Chinese markets for Chinese to buy the product. We are
in the WTO, so a Chinese importer comes, buys at market price, and pays
tariffs.

Exactly as western people buy things in the international market.

~~~
tanilama
OP actually gets the point. Chinese consumers are not aware of those foods
until very recently, and their interests are likely cultivated by the
corresponding oversea industry intentionally.

So why blame China for the shortage when the western countries are the ones
create the demand in the first place? I guess it is a convenient strategy to
hike the price while swiftly shift the blame to something people already
dislike, after all it fits the narrative.

~~~
gonvaled
It makes no sense. How would the "nice" export strategy look like? Market the
product in the international channels but make sure no Chinese is aware of it?
Or maybe do not put the product for export at all?

As said, we are in the WTO. Which means yes or no to exports. With good
reason.

------
baybal2
Spanish ham is so so, I prefer Ukrainean

------
Double_a_92
Spaniard sounds like some insult...

------
KasianFranks
Someone is facing a ham shortage?

~~~
tyingq
A shortage of one very specific, high end, type of ham, yes. Similar to "wagyu
beef"...brand/status/scarcity.

~~~
KasianFranks
Will this come to the United States? If so, we better get ready as in
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NC6iRwe9ns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NC6iRwe9ns)

~~~
opportune
It's a specific type of luxury ham produced in Spain (ergo the name "Iberian
ham"). Since you didn't even know what this product was beforehand you have
nothing to get ready for, it won't affect you.

~~~
KasianFranks
Luxury ham? Now I'm getting it.

~~~
la_oveja
No esta hecho el jamón para el hocico del marrano...

------
microcolonel
Okay, then produce more.

I don't get these "shortage" news stories. The only way you get a prolonged
shortage like this is if the supply is naturally limited (which it isn't, for
all intents and purposes) or if it is artificially limited (which it might
be). Either way, the shortage is not because of increased demand, but because
of reduced supply and/or incorrect (or deliberately manipulative) pricing.

~~~
la_oveja
You do understand that can take 4 years to make a high-end certified ham? And
Spaniards buy this ham for Christmas?

~~~
microcolonel
Sure, but they could just buy a half ham this year, or not buy ham, or pay
more for it than Chinese people are willing to pay.

If some Spaniards go hamless this year, it will not be a tragedy, and it will
be entirely in their power to correct. Christmas comes once a year, so prices
are flexible for those who _must_ have the hallowed ham.

