Fermín
First Iberico producer USDA-approved for US export (2007). Made Iberico de Bellota broadly available in American specialty channels.
Fermín deserves credit as the first Spanish Iberico producer to receive USDA approval to export to the US (2007) — meaning every Iberico de Bellota American consumers bought before then was either illegally smuggled, brought back in luggage, or simply unavailable. Based in La Alberca (Salamanca province, near the Portuguese border), Fermín produces across the Iberico grade spectrum (bellota, cebo de campo, cebo) at price points that made Iberico accessible to American specialty retail. Quality is solid but not the top-tier-collector level of Cinco Jotas or Joselito — call it the entry point that's still genuinely Iberico, with full DOP/pure-breed credentialing.