HISTORY

Our founders, Joan, Joaquím and Càndid Cañigueral, start the family business in Cassà de la Selva (Girona). Later, the company JOAN CAÑIGUERAL, S.A. is set up and the “MONTER” brand is created. Marketing is later expanded to Barcelona and the surrounding area, with a facility in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

FRIGORÍFICOS COSTA BRAVA, S.A. starts business with a pig slaughterhouse and quartering room.

EMBUTIDOS MONTER, S.L. is founded and a cured cold meat plant in Sant Jaume de Llierca is acquired.

The clean room is built at the Sant Jaume de Llierca factory. The facilities are expanded with more slicing lines added and improved capacity and productivity.

The Cañigueral family acquires the Productos Cárnicos Pirene plant in Les Planes d’Hostoles to keep expanding the business.

Launch of the first cured turkey product in the Spanish market in 2002. Healthier products: at least 30% less fat.

Our Frigoríficos Costa Brava plant is type-approved by the Chinese authorities to export boneless ham and other pork products to that country.

Acquisition of Coopecarn Girona S.L. (Quart). New business producing marinated and frozen meat, mainly for export.

Our Frigoríficos Costa Brava plant enters the Japanese market.

One of our technological milestones: autonomous robot vehicles guided by magnetic fields are implemented. They carry our cold meats to the drying facilities and check that the curing process is in accordance with the pattern defined for each product. The second phase of expansion of the Les Planes facility begins a year later with new drying facilities.

Costa Brava is the first Spanish company to be type-approved for the export of white layer pork to the United States after passing the most stringent quality and food safety standards in the world.

Pernils Llémena, part-owned by Embutidos Collell, a Grup Cañigueral company, starts exporting serrano ham to the US and Australian markets.

New company brought into Grup Cañigueral: FRESCOS Y ELABORADOS DELISANO S.A.U., an innovative plant specialising in cutting and packaging. Committed to freshness (just-in-time production), it works with fresh pork and specialises in elaborated products such as the widest range of gluten-free croquettes, breaded products and burger meats. It is based in Cheste (Valencia) and has a workforce of more than 1,000 people.

Our traditional star product, serrano ham, enters another of the world’s major markets: Japan. Three years later, in 2019, this product enters the Chinese market.

Frigoríficos Costa Brava expands its plant in Riudellots to 40,810 m², employing more than 1,300 specialised workers. With the subsequent expansion of the Vilamalla plant, it now has more than 1,800 employees, is more than 61,000 m² in size, and has a production capacity of more than 3.2 million pigs per year.

Grupo Cañigueral acquires the company FAR Jamón Serrano, S.A.U. based in Les Preses (Girona) to add its entire range of cured products to the group. This diversifies the business and expands sales by increasing exports.

Our product catalogue is updated with a healthy new production: cured chicken in snack format, packaged and easy to eat anywhere.

We create cured cold meat packaging to improve sustainability: the four-pack, moving towards zero waste.

In February, Grupo Cañigueral acquires new facilities in Vilamalla (Girona), adding 20,500 m², which makes it the company’s second-largest quartering plant. With this plant and the one in Riudellots, the company has 61,280 m², more than 1,800 specialised workers, and a production capacity of more than 3.2 million pigs per year.

The COSTA BRAVA MEDITERRANEAN FOODS portfolio includes beef products from FRICAFOR. The large new beef family is added to fresh pork, elaborated meat products, cold meats and snacks.

In October, the group launches COSTA BRAVA MEDITERRANEAN FOODS, its new international brand, which brings all of the companies’ products together under one umbrella. The commercial launch takes place at the SIAL PARIS trade fair on 21-25 of this month.

Costa Brava Mediterranean Foods acquires Embutidos Caseros Collell, S.L.U. The four plants in Les Preses, Sant Esteve de Llémena and Olot (2) in the province of Girona will strengthen and expand a very important area for the group, cured products: cold meat and serrano ham.

We are multiplying our efforts and precautions in these difficult times due to Covid, so you can continue to have the highest-quality, food-safe staple products available. Stay at home, you will have everything you need. #EstoNoTieneQueParar

The start of external sustainability audits. This commitment requires us to improve our ESG (environmental, social and governance) indicators year by year. They are our real sustainability roadmap. We also start calculating our carbon footprint this year.

Pig Livestock Union SL, a joint venture with Vall Companys in which Costa Brava Mediterranean Foods holds a 60% stake, is set up to buy Leridana de Piensos and a million pigs per year entirely for our production chain. We increase our livestock production to have more pigs with animal welfare certification, source higher-quality animals, and secure our raw materials.

The size of our serrano ham plant is expanded by 8,000 m². This will increase both our capacity and our quality, because it will enable us to lengthen the average curing period. We further consolidate our position as one of Spain’s leading ham producers.

Costa Brava Mediterranean Foods has solar panels in its larger facilities and is planning to install them in more plants. This is also the first year in which the entire group uses 100% energy from renewable sources.

Stake acquired in a serrano ham drying plant, Jamcal Alimentación, in Calamocha, Teruel. This enables us to increase our ham production, one of the group’s objectives, and rise up the ranking as one of the country’s largest producers of this delicious traditional product.

Following the assembly of our slicing lines for serrano ham and cold meats in Toano, Virginia, we can announce our first international production facility. This new plant is the group’s 17th and is focused on producing for the entire US market, to gain market share and brand recognition in one of the world’s most important markets.

Our position in the Latin American market is strengthened by opening a new product line for our cold meats in a region where previously we only produced fresh/frozen meat. This year we reached agreements with major partners in the region, making us strategic partners to take our cured products to large retailers in Mexico, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Central America.

The group’s livestock division is expanded by taking a holding in Inga Food, a company that specialises in integrating farms in Spain, together with Grupo Vall Companys and Incarlopsa. We continue to increase our supply security and our commitment to the future of the sector.