Noel

Noel, in full Noel Alimentaria, is a fourth-generation family company from Sant Joan les Fonts in Girona. Its site says «contigo desde 1940», while the serrano consortium dates the company to 1944, the year the Noel brand was created. Cooked ham is its main business; cured ham, lomo, chorizo, fuet and salchichón make up the part covered here.

The family story goes back to 1920, when Isidro Bosch Muntada opened the butcher shop Carnisseria Modelo in Olot. In 1940 Josep Bosch and Salvador Berga bought the Mateu Vidal sausage factory; the brand followed in 1944 and was registered in 1946. A boneless cured ham was launched in 1968, when exports began. Noel co-founded the Consorcio del Jamón Serrano Español in 1990 and took stakes in Pernils Llemena and Jamones Alto Aragón in 2001.

The cured side has Noel Delizias, with its sub-lines Delizias Al corte (lomo curado, jamón serrano) and Delizias Pétalos (salchichón con trufa among others), plus snacking sticks of mini chorizo, fuet and chorizo. Jamón serrano rests on the consortium membership. Sites named by the producer include El Cierzo in Teruel province, Jamones Llémena (22,000 hams a week) and Jamones Alto Aragón at El Grado (12,000 a week); no PDO claim is made for the Teruel plant.

Unlike Argal, which sells everything under a single name, Noel splits its cured range into sub-lines, each tied to a pack format.

In Pétalos packs the slices are laid by hand; trays hold 60 to 120 g and the snack sticks 60 to 70 g. Spanish supermarket chill cabinets are where these packs sit.