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Point of view: Business dynamics and strategies of Iberian pork butchers
Production of Iberian charcuterie has increased significantly over the last decade, to meet growing demand. Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic affected the Iberian charcuterie business, but the sector quickly recovered. The market for Iberian products is rather fragmented, although it tends to be concentrated among a dozen or so leading companies. Depending on their objectives, these companies have developed various organizational strategies.
A dual market between concentration and atomicity
The market for Iberian products is split in two. On the one hand, almost 49% of production is concentrated among 11 companies with sales of over €50 million in Iberian products. On the other hand, the second half of the market is rather scattered, shared between 98 companies with sales of less than €50 million (i.e. that of an SME) on their Iberian business. In fact, 88 companies with sales under €25 million account for 36% of the market. However, four groups with sales in excess of €100 million account for almost 27% of market share. Although there is a certain concentration of production, which has become more pronounced in recent years, the charcuterie link in the Iberian industry remains relatively fragmented.
Number of groups and share of national business by size class (in sales)
| Turnover | Number of groups | Share of national business |
|---|---|---|
| >175M€ | 1 | 9% |
| 175-100M€ | 3 | 18% |
| 100-50M€ | 7 | 22% |
| 50-25M€ | 10 | 15% |
| 25-5M€ | 62 | 32% |
| <5M€ | 26 | 4% |
The Different Strategies and Organizations of the Top 10 Iberian Pork Butchers
Iberian charcuterie companies are diverse in their organization, production, marketing and internationalization strategies. They may be vertically integrated within an industry, produce on more or less concentrated production sites, be oriented towards the national or international market, and have a greater or lesser diversity of customers. Major groups such as El Pozo, Valls Companys, Jorge, Costa, Campofrio and Incarlopsa have positioned themselves in the Iberian segment to diversify their activities, and are all present in the top 10. Other groups, with little presence in conventional pork products, have specialized in Iberian products, such as Osborne, Canpipork and Calderon y Ramos.
Sales of Iberian pork products by TOP 10 group
| Rank | Companies | 2020 (M€) | 2021 (M€) | Evol. 20/21 | Market share 2021 | Exports (% of sales) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Pozo | 163 | 196 | 20% | 9% | 29% |
| 2 | Incarlopsa | 141 | 155 | 10% | 7% | nc |
| 3 | Valls Company | 108 | 138 | 28% | 6% | 15% |
| 4 | Grupo Osborne | 85 | 103 | 21% | 5% | 30% |
| 5 | Calderon y Ramos | 82 | 93 | 14% | 4% | 25% |
| 6 | Canpipork | 58 | 78 | 34% | 4% | 2% |
| 7 | Deraza Iberico | 74 | 75 | 2% | 3 % | 20% |
| 8 | Grupo Jorge | 68 | 74 | 8% | 3 % | 18% |
| 9 | Campofrio Food Group | 63 | 65 | 4% | 3% | 5% |
| 10 | Grupo Empresarial Costa | 52 | 53 | 3% | 2% | 7% |
| TOP 3 | 412 | 488 | 18% | 22% | ||
| TOP 10 | 893 | 1 029 | 15% | 47% | ||
| TOP 109 | 1 893 | 2 186 | 16 % | 100 % |
- El Pozo is the leading producer of Iberian pork charcuterie. In 2021, a new production facility, including one approved for the USA and Japan, went into operation. At a cost of €85 million, this site has a production capacity of 2.5 million Iberian hams and pallets. El Pozo’s organizational strategy is to produce on a single large site. The company is also export-oriented.
- Incarlopsa, the 2nd largest company in the Iberian charcuterie market, has a marketing strategy focused on the domestic market. Its production is hardly ever exported, and is mainly sold to the distributor Mercadona. Unlike El Pozo, Incarlopsa has a multi-site production strategy.
- The Valls Companys Group, ranked 3rd, has a 6% market share. The Valls Group’s stated aim is to compete with El Pozo in the Iberian segment. To this end, in 2021, Valls Companys acquired
Auteur
Ingénieur agroéconomiste - Expert en charge de la veille internationale sur l’aval de la filière porcine
