Specialty hams are hot stuff this season

Local meat processors have started flooding the supermarkets, convenience stores and other outlets with their specialty hams, which together with queso de bola and round fruits, make the Christmas tables of Filipino homes complete.

With actual sales of P800 million last year, local meat processors are expecting either the same volume of sales this year, or slightly higher than last year’s.

CDO Foodsphere, which has a lot of low-end products bought by cash-starved consumers, is eyeing a five to seven percent increase in harm sales this season. Its high end product, Holiday ham, is particularly brisk during the season.

CDO vice president for sales and marketing Eduardo R. Reataza said the brisk sales of specialty hams normally begins after Dec. 15 when employees of most private companies get their bonuses and monthly pay.

Reataza said like previous Christmas seasons, local meat processors are expected to cash in on the huge demand for hams, which normally peak during the Yuletide holidays.

Hams comprise about eight percent of the estimated P10 billion fresh processed meat industry while hotdogs account for the bulk with a share of 60 percent.

"There is a huge market for our Holiday hams, which also make perfect Christmas presents to friends and business associates," Reataza said, citing that normally CDO enters into direct sales with huge individual accounts of companies during the season.

CDO, a three-time awardee as best meat processing plant from the National Meat Inspection Commission, is targetting a five- to seven-percent growth in specialty hams sales this year. it has been in the ham processing business for 26 years now and has earned quyite a following for its hams.

The traditional whole pork leg ham (deboned and bone-in) fetches P249 to P260 per kilo while the old-time Chinese ham sells for P345 to P360 per kilo.

The structured ham, which requires a special mold, comes in different names according to its shape. By tradition, consumers identify these hams as pear shaped, square, round or hamon de bola.

CDO sells its American or square ham for P185 per kilo, hamon de bola for P159 (850 grams) and its pear-shaped ham for P139 a piece of 800 grams.