The farmers from Murcia who reinvented themselves by creating a 'halal' ham for all types of consumers

Nestled among the dry, rocky hills of the Murcia region, there is a dense pasture of large oak trees that provide shade for 1,200 sheep. This farm near the town of Los Royos has belonged to the same family for four generations, and José Juan Sánchez Martínez is the last to run the business. When he inherited the sheep from his father, José Juan thought that sheep farming was an increasingly outdated sector and wanted to find a way to innovate. “Seeing all the problems surrounding sheep hunting, we thought that we had to create new products, products that provide added value and also allow lamb meat to be revalued,” explains José Miguel Piñero Guillén, his partner. Thus, in 2022, the two Josés launched La Dehesa de Gaia, naming it after the oak grove where their sheep roam, and converted their entire process to halal production. More information“It is not due to ideology or religion, nor is it a cultural issue. Here we have a culture of making sausages. In the Region of Murcia, where we have the knowledge, there are trained people, people who know. Therefore, we understand that to get away from that competitor a little, we need to reach a niche market,” explains Piñero Guillén. “Instead of competing among the region's sausage makers, we made our own niche in the market where we could make the same products with the same quality and the same flavours, but with optimal meat and accessible to a wider public, including Muslims, who had never had access to this Spanish delicacy before (because they do not eat pork or meat that is not halal).”Flock of sheep. Image provided by the brand. Eloi Teixidó Halal meat is that which meets three major requirements: it comes from animals that have not been treated with hormones, that have followed a strictly “vegetarian and natural” diet and that have been slaughtered by the rite permitted by Islamic precepts, according to the specialized site Halal Gourmet. The certification process of the Halal Institute guarantees the complete traceability of the food chain, covering not only the ingredients, but also the production process, hygiene, handling, packaging materials, storage, transport and distribution. José Juan and José Miguel are 40 years old, which makes them young among Spanish cattle farmers, whose average age is 55 years, according to data from the Union of Farmers and Cattle Ranchers. The long-term vision of the partners to expand and innovate the Spanish livestock industry has led them to two niches: “One of those niches is halal and the Muslim market. And on the other hand, we have the market of customers who are willing to buy sustainable meat, meat from free-range livestock farming,» says José Miguel.José Juan Sánchez Martínez is the fourth generation to lead the livestock farm. Image provided by the brand. Eloi Teixidó FAccording to the Halal Institute, this market has around 4 million customers in Spain and a total of 50 million potential customers in Europe. A Fortune Business Insights report estimates that the global halal food and beverage market will be worth almost three billion euros by 2028. The growing perception that halal food and beverage is prepared ethically and is healthier and safer is also expected to drive market growth in the coming years. «The entire process in our chain is halal. The slaughter is done in a halal-certified slaughterhouse and then the workshop where we work and make the preparations also has the certificate. “We cover the entire production chain in local establishments that have the certification,” says José Miguel. Although these two millennial farmers have managed to convert their production chain to halal practices, creating new products has not always been easy and José Miguel explains that the business has had many setbacks: “It has been a pure entrepreneurship. We have entered a sector that we do not master well either, which was the production of sausages. We have had to depend on third parties. We have had to row, do many tests to achieve optimal texture quality, and well, all this is based on investment, wear and tear, as I say, trial and error.” However, after all that, the duo launched three halal products made with lamb: a chorizo, a salami and a ham, whose prices range between 50 and 60 euros per kilo.The 'halal' chorizo ​​from La Dehesa de Gaia is made from lamb. Image provided by the brand. Eloi Teixidó FIn general, the products have been well received. José Miguel says that they have noticed «a lot of interest internationally from customers eager to incorporate new products of European origin and who value Spanish products very much.» France is where they export the most, but most of their clients are halal shops in Spain. At a national level, he explains that the client is very used to beef and pork sausage, «so the comparison is always there.» However, their lamb products are popular among Muslim clients in Murcia. In Spain, there are other players in the halal meat sector. In León, a region known for its cecina, Cecinas Nieto has been marketing halal cecina for two decades. But, as José Miguel says, they have “practically” no competition, “since it is a very innovative project and almost no one has made a ham with lamb meat before.” The halal lamb business of the two young Murcians continues to prosper with even more innovation under the table. “We are going to make another different type of sausage: a butifarra [entendida como embutido fresco compuesto de carne picada] and lamb sobrasada [embutido crudo curado condimentado con sal, pimentón y pimienta negra]”, says José Miguel with great emotion.You can follow EL PAÍS Gastro on Instagram and X.