When you ask him about the history of his company, Remedios Sánchez answers quickly, without hesitation: “it is not the history of a project: it is the history of a life.” And so it is, because the journey of Remedios Sánchez, the Guijuelo Iberian company, cannot be understood without the life history of its promoter.
However, as she herself points out, it is not a story that was born with the appearance of this commercial brand. He's not even born with it. “They are already several generations before mine. I was born here, in a house in which the domestic spaces were intermingled with the drying rooms, the smoking areas… It is something that we carry in our blood because we have always lived it,” she says.
Still, although these roots are essential to understand her relationship with the product, the story of this businesswoman, an exceptional case within a traditionally conservative sector, begins almost three decades ago, when she closed the beauty center she ran to join the family business, Hams and Sausages Geminiano, and start a silent but constant revolution.
With it came the construction of new facilities, more modern although without losing the character of a traditional space. And a few years ago, the big change. “They suggested that the products bear my name. At first it wasn't clear to me. There was no other Iberian brand with a woman's name and, at the same time, we had a well-known and consolidated commercial name, with many years behind it and many customers. But in the end I accepted and now I realize that it was a success, because each piece that we put on the market represents my way of understanding this craft and, at the same time, is a tribute to the women of the previous generations of my family.” .
We attended with her the festival of the slaughter in Guijuelo, the town where they are based, where the Iberian culture is rooted like in very few places, and we talked during the celebrations, which, in some way, although Whether only symbolically, it represents its connection with the cultural legacy of this place. “From a personal point of view, I am in a very beautiful moment, in which I am finally beginning to really enjoy what I do,” she says. “If I think about the company, I think I have achieved what I was looking for: consolidating very high demand parameters, working exclusively with acorn-fed Iberian ham… and all without losing sight of our origin, which is this and which for us is essential, but always being clear that the future was about not conforming, about innovating, about finding our own line without looking at what others are doing.”
The truth is that Remedios has managed to chart its path in a delicate balance between tradition and innovation, making a name for itself in a traditionally masculine sector. And he has achieved it, fundamentally, thanks to his nonconformity.
“It has had a lot of value and a lot of merit,” explains Javier Faure, his eldest son, while we visit the drying room where the pieces evolve slowly, in the traditional way. “He knew how to understand what the direction of this project should be, the innovation, the commitment to quality, at a time when things were not like now. If it is still difficult today to make a way, to differentiate, imagine then, a woman who joins a family business and begins to make changes that today we see were a success, but that then she had to defend against all odds."
You have to know the product and the technique very well to dare, as Remedios has done, to revolutionize them without betraying them. “Each piece, for us, is unique, it has different nuances that we have to respect,” he explains, guiding us at the same time between rows of hams. “Adjusting the amount of salt was, in that sense, risky, because we were taking a gamble. We lower it to the limit, bordering on the risk that everything could be ruined, but we trust in what we do, in the millimeter control of the process. And so, not only do we allow each piece to express itself, but we achieve products that, in addition to being much more subtle, more elegant, are also healthier.”
Although his work begins in the field, selecting animals one by one in the south of Extremadura and in the mountains of Huelva, it is here, in his facilities, where he acquires his definitive personality. “The quality of the raw material is essential, of course, but this is where we turn it into our product: I have my own dressings, based on fresh garlic chopped daily and paprika from La Vera, we only use salt as a preservative, nothing more; We control the humidity and temperature in each step of the process, in a personal way, opening or closing windows as our experience dictates, we smoke with a wood-burning fireplace, in the traditional way.”
In some ways, Remedios' work is reminiscent of that of a goldsmith, aware that every detail is essential for the final product. Or perhaps that of a tailor who works each suit as something unique. “That's just how it is,” he explains while we eat a ham. “No two pieces are alike. Each one tastes like what the animal has eaten, it has its fat, its moisture, its size. There is no one-size-fits-all formula here. You have to see them one by one, understand them, review them daily, adapt to what they need.”
Regarding the lower presence of salt in his preparations, he explains that “the low level of salt allows us to extract sweet, less aggressive nuances, aromas that come from the earth, from the animal's habitat. It is complex, but it allows me much more delicate results. I rely a lot on intuition, on observation, on paying attention to when the grass dries, on the winds, on the first snow in the mountains, south of Guijuelo. It is something that you cannot mechanize or delegate, you have to have lived it forever. And that is what marks the final character of the products.”
This work, silent and inconspicuous, is the basis of the prestige that the production company has been consolidating in recent years and has been accompanied by similar care for the image. “For us it was a matter of giving the product a packaging according to its quality, of transmitting our philosophy, the love that is in each piece. For us they are jewels that at some point will leave our home to go to others. We must protect them as they and those who bet on our product deserve.”
But if there is an element that defines her work, another trait that this businesswoman has adopted as a sign of identity is innovation, work such as those carried out with the chef David Chamorro in which the microbiology of the drying rooms and of each one of the pieces, but also new applications in infusions, in preparations similar to the Japanese katsuobushi. Or the launch of innovative formats on the market in Spain, such as bondiola, an Italian sausage made with pieces of the animals' necks, with which she explores all the nuances that can be extracted from Iberian meats.
“I never think I'm doing my best, I'm always looking for flaws,” explains the artisan. “It is the only way to continue evolving. When you think everything is fine, you settle. And I don't want to settle, I am attentive to the entire process, the dressings, the selection of the animals... I think there is a whole world of possibilities for this wonderful product that we have not yet explored. The work of recent years shows us this. It is proof that this is our path, that what she wanted to do, because she was convinced of it, makes sense; It is what differentiates us and is where we can continue to evolve.”
After 28 years at the helm of the project, Remedios feels that she no longer has anything to prove, that she has found her niche and that she is going through a moment of professional maturity that also coincides with the incorporation of her sons Javier and Guillermo to the project. “They are two people who have experienced the product since they were born and who have had an academic training that gives them training and a breadth of vision that contributes a lot. I trust them a lot and their judgment, because they know this world, they have always lived in it at home, and because we complement each other. Knowing that all this is in the best hands is a peace of mind and a source of pride. It may seem like a cliché, but if I am proud of something, more than the company, it is of them, of everything they contribute and what they are going to contribute. They are my best project and the future of Remedios Sánchez.”
The world of Iberian is going through a key moment of redefinition. The Iberian Forum held last autumn in Salamanca highlighted this by addressing different factors related to export, with studies from various academic fields to guarantee traceability or to know in detail the nutritional values of this unique product. And Remedios Sánchez's project is an example of how this can be transferred to the day-to-day life of companies in the sector, of how innovation, evolution without losing sight of the origins and a determined commitment to quality are essential and will be. even more in the future.
But the work of this businesswoman also shows how beyond the clichés there is room for other profiles, both personal and product; It shows the existence of a curious and demanding clientele that demands new products, even in iconic products such as Iberian products. That of Remedios is the profile of an entrepreneur who has broken clichés and glass ceilings, who has managed to make a name for herself, place herself among the elite of the sector and who, far from settling, continues to bet on the future of a sector that today is written , to a large extent, with his name.
