It was at the beginning of the decade of the thirties in the past century when the Hernández family, in Guijuelo, decided to follow-up on the years of experience it had breeding the Iberíco pig and producing its products, thus founding the first company that had ever been comprehensively dedicated to this sector. Until this time breeding of the Iberíco pig and its "slaughtering" had merely represented a secondary activity, an artisanal way of complementing the family economy. 

During those times D. Bernardo Hernández Blázquez had to confront a reality that is very different from what we currently know: Ibérico products were still not appreciated, not even in our own country and the so-called normal pieces (the ham and the shoulder ham) carried the same price on the market as did lard. On the other hand the entire production of hams and sausage meats would take the same route as the breeders did with their pigs, which were mainly Extremeño pigs, the one leading to Guijuelo: on the train that travelled the famous "Silver Way".
Of course at that time there was no such thing as cold chambers, hence slaughtering was exclusively reserved for the cold Serrano winter (November to February). During the rest of the year their work was completely dedicated to watching over the pieces that were already prepared and commercialising the products. This way of doing things started to change when D. Bernardo brought the first cold camber in the region to Guijuelo. 

After years of sustained growth, during the decade of the seventies, D. Bernardo Hernández García, son of the founder, decided to undertake a new corporate adventure: breeding of the Ibérico pig on their own estates; thus insuring constant quality by means of genetic selection and a natural feeding process in the pig's own environment. 
Subsequently, towards the end of the decade, the company opened leading and pioneer facilities in Guijuelo that had never been seen to date, completing the same in 1988 with a new cutting plant and sausage meat packing factory. 

Today, right when we are just about to open the new extension of these facilities (with two new complete bays) there is a third Bernardo Hernández at the head of the company. Bernardo, along with his brother Jorge and always wonderfully advised by their father Bernardo, are heading this family-run company, which with its growth and modernization has contributed to turning Guijuelo Ibérico products into one of the best known gastronomic myths to be found in the world. 

The Ibérico Pig is an autochthonous breed of the Iberian Peninsula. Thousands of years of natural selection have allowed this pig to adapt perfectly to a life of freedom and to profit from the fruits that the lands and pasturelands yield like no other animal so that after countless months the most exquisite gourmet products can be obtained. 

At BEHER our select pure Ibérico sows, which correspond to the prestigious Retinta variety, are registered in the Genealogical Book of the Ibérico Breed, as is likewise the case with our boars. Thus with these animals our production strictly adheres to the most demanding genealogical exigencies. 

We breed the Ibérico pig in its natural habitat, promoting a long life, with the possibility of grazing and exercising under the most laudable healthy conditions, and also enjoying an exquisite and painstakingly cared-for diet.

Corn, barley, wheat, soy, grass and acorns are the essential natural ingredients that we combine in masterly fashion, resulting in a 14-16 month old animal that is healthy and fat (with an approximate weight of 160-180 kilograms), which we then take to Guijuelo so as to start producing the marvellous Bernardo Hernández products.

If what we want to assure is success, then nothing better than to control any process from its very beginning. Hence, four decades ago, at its own estates, BEHER already decided to add breeding and husbandry of the Ibérico pig to the tasks it was already carrying out to achieve the levels of exigency and quality that it demanded of its main raw material. 

It is only thus that uniformity in the personality and nature of its production can actually be maintained at the level it has accustomed us to during almost a hundred years.

BEHER's factory in Guijuelo is a prodigious combination of innovation in technology, scrupulous hygiene and extraordinary craftsmanship. This is the only way that a production such as this can be enjoyed, following the guidelines established almost a hundred years ago and strictly complying with the current requirements pertaining to traceability, health and guaranties that today's society is exacting. 

All this is not only aimed at Spain, but also at complying with the essential certifications and approvals that are necessary for exporting the result of our production to the most demanding of markets, as is the case with the Japanese market.

The Villa of Guijuelo is located in the foothills of the Gredos Sierra, at a height of 1000 meters over sea level, with a landscape that can be regarded as intermediate, ranging from the rugged mountain slopes right through to the forest areas, including the 'dehesas' and cereal producing steppes of the Castilian-Leonese plains and tablelands. This is what insures a climate of long, cold and dry winters, with short summers and dominating low-humidity winds that are ideal for all the production phases involved in the Ibérico industry. Hence, the phrase "cradle of Ibérico Ham" that the Guijuelo Denomination of Origin has been using as their advertising slogan for decades now (Denomination to which Beher has belonged as of day one). 

The nature and personality of BEHER Ibérico Ham is marked by the selection that, generation after generation, is made of the best reproducing sows of the Ibérico breed. If to this we add their freedom to graze and the natural diet they follow, culminated by a slow curing process of 24 to 40 months, what is obtained is a truly unique product: long, well-profiled and fine-boned, with just the bare minimum of golden coloured fat of a very mild consistency. An attractive cherry red colour appears when it is cut, with good infiltration and marbling of fat, with just a touch of white specks and a shine (both in the lean and fatty meat) that is characteristic of its great quality. Its taste is pleasant, sweet and mild. The intensity of these characteristics does, however, vary in the different qualities we commercialise. As there is no accounting for taste, we offer them all.

2010
IFFA-DELICAT INTERNATIONAL FRANKFURT TRADE FAIR 2010

16 Gold Medals
2 Silver Medals
1 Bronze Medals
Special Grand Prize in the Ham Category

2007
IFFA-DELICAT INTERNATIONAL FRANKFURT TRADE FAIR 2007

14 Gold Medals
2 Silver Medals
2 Bronze Medals
Special Grand Prize in the Ham Category
Honour Award in the Sausage Meat Category

2006
FOOD & DRINK EXPO 2006

Award to the Best International Product

UK GUILD OF FINE FOOD RETAILERS GREAT TASTE 2006 AWARDS

Bronze Medal

SUFFA 2006. STUTTGART.

3 Gold Medals
1 Silver Medal

2004
IFFA-DELICAT INTERNATIONAL FRANKFURT TRADE FAIR 2004

13 Gold Medals
1 Bronze Medal
Honour Award to the Best Foreign Company

2001
IFFA-DELICAT INTERNATIONAL FRANKFURT TRADE FAIR 2001

10 Gold Medals
1 Silver Medal
1 Bronze Medal
Honour Award to the Best Foreign Company

NATIONAL HAM TRADE FAIR (SANJA). CALAMOCHA TERUEL.

National Award to Ibérico Ham Quality