Exports of Prosciutto di Parma set a new record in 2007, jumping 9% compared to a 1.5% increase for other cured Italian hams, the Prosciutto di Parma Consortium reported on Friday.
Over two million Parma hams crossed the border last year, an increase of 175,000 over 2006, equal to 22% of total annual production of the prize ham.
''This was an exceptional result when you consider the just over 10% increase in exports for other Italian cured meats,'' observed consortium president Stefano Tedeschi.
The value of Prosciutto di Parma exports last year was estimated at around 170 million euros, 37% of the total value of cured meat exports, which include speck, coppa and culatello.
According to ham-makers, the secret to Prosciutto di Parma's excellence begins with a careful selection of prime-grade raw material: the ham.
The meat is then treated and seasoned using traditional methods carried out in a strictly delimited area of production within the province of Parma.
The ham is aged for at least 10-12 months and only one ingredient can be used in the treatment of the meat: salt.
This guarantees Prosciutto di Parma is an absolutely natural product and allows it to be delicious, easily digestible and nutritional at the same time.
The producers of the 'real' ham are all members of the Prosciutto di Parma consortium, which began in 1963 with 23 partners who produced 53,000 hams with their now famous ducal crown trademark.
Today, the consortium counts 200 associated members who produce nine million aged hams for a turnover of some 1.5 billion euros annually.
