Mar. 8 - Last day in Japan for Prosciutto di Parma: "The King of Hams" participated in this year's edition of Tokyo’s Foodex, the largest food fair in Asia - now in its 38th edition - which ends today. The Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma is part of the Italian delegation, with its own stand, which was continuously besieged by local industry players in search of a tasting. Foodex, like all other fairs, confirmed once again its role as a strategic business tool: an essential appointment that allows the Italian company to take stock of the situation on the Japanese market, display its main planned initiatives for the current year and meet with local importers. Japan has shown in recent years increasing interest for Prosciutto di Parma, and in 2012 the product recorded an excellent performance: 17 thousand Parma hams - for the production of 427 000 fresh containers - an overall increase of about 28% with regards to 2011. 2012 was a huge success in Japan, considering the eating habits of a culturally very different country. This diversity, however, is bridged by the intrinsically innovative strength of Parma ham, a product able to adapt to the changing times and offer new ways of consumption (i.e. the pre-sliced fresh containers, which maintain natural features and lightness). However, Parma ham is also a versatile product that lends itself as an ingredient to a variety of other dishes; maybe, one day, it will partner-up with sushi.

THE PARMA HAM CONSORTIUM
To defend and protect the quality of the "King of Hams" in 1963, the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma was founded as an organization of producers (at the time 23, today 160) to use and safeguard the traditional method of ham processing. Since then, the Consortium protects Parma Ham thanks to specific legislation that establishes the characteristics and production methods. The Consortium oversees compliance with the specification operations to ensure the consumer a good product, genuine and completely natural. The mark of the Consortium - the ducal crown with five points - is hence a true quality mark.