Our mentors
Vall Companys Grupo
Pork Commercial Director
Since 1997, he has been working at Vall Companys in various business units, from the farm production of sows to weaning and fattening.
He spent a year and a half in Oklahoma and Texas (United States) working at Vall Inc. (a subsidiary of the Vall Companys Group in the USA from 1992 to 2003). Since 2004, he has been in the meat division and since 2008, he has held the position of Commercial Director of the pork division of the Vall Companys Group.
A leading agri-food group in Spain founded in 1956 in Lleida. Cárnicas Cinco Villas is the largest and most modern of the Vall Companys Group’s pork slaughterhouses and butchering facilities.
Vall Companys data in 2019:
• 4.8 million pigs produced
• 390,000 tons of pork sold
• Consolidated turnover of €2,054 million
• 2,100 partner farms
• 8,800 collaborators
Francisco Mur
Grupo Jorge
Director of Production Engineering, and R&D+i
Industrial engineer with an executive master’s in business administration (MBA) from the University of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) 2003–2004. Twenty-three years of experience in the areas of production, maintenance, engineering, and R&D+i of large national and multinational top-tier companies. He is currently the Director of Process Engineering and R&D at Grupo Jorge, a company present in the pig, energy, and agricultural sectors, with a turnover of more than €1,300 million and a workforce of more than 4,500 workers. Responsible for the definition and improvement of production processes, as well as the development and innovation of new products and processes for companies in the agri-industrial sector.
Grupo Jorge is a leading company in the Spanish meat sector which originated as a family-run business in the region of Aragon and has now been trading for more than 80 years. It exports more than 78% of its production to more than 75 countries. The company has 4,500 employees.
Eduardo Costa
Piensos Costa
Adviser
Director of Production at Piensos Costa and current President of the national cluster of pig producers, I+Porc.
Piensos Costa is a leading company in the pig sector that was founded in 1966 in Fraga (Huesca). According to the National Hog Farmer Mega Producers 2020 list, Piensos Costa, which is also part of the Costa Food Group meat holding company, has the third largest European livestock farm. Costa Food Group is the fourth largest national meat group in Spain, and is only the third group in the country to integrate chicken, turkey, and pork species into its production chain from start to finish. They export to 107 countries and have created 4,000 jobs. The Costa Food holding integrates 15 meat companies throughout the entire production process, from farm to table, among which the brands Casademont, Industrias Cárnicas Villar, Costa Food Meat, and Aviserrano stand out. Likewise, the holding has an installed capacity of 850 farms in the pig sector and 400 in the poultry sector.
Montserrat García
Incarlopsa
Director of Quality and R&D+i
Montserrat García has a degree in science and technology from the Complutense University of Madrid and a diploma in chemical sciences from the University of Castilla-La Mancha. She has devoted her time to the world of quality in the meat sector for more than 22 years and is the Director of Quality, Environment, and R&D+i at the Incarlopsa Group.
Incarlopsa, a family-run business with investment from 100% Spanish capital and more than 40 years of history in the business, is a benchmark in the meat sector in Spain. The company is headquartered in Tarancón (Cuenca) and has 11 production centres in Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla-León, Andalusia, and the Valencian Community. Incarlopsa specialises in the production of fresh, cured, and Iberian pork products. Their team has doubled in size in recent years. The group currently generates 3,600 direct and indirect jobs. Incarlopsa has a vertical production model that guarantees full traceability of the production process and the highest product quality. Quality, food safety, and respect for the environment are the cornerstones to its sustainable management model in which innovation also plays a fundamental role, making it a benchmark in its sector.
Sergio Ramos
Naturuel
Grupo Tervalis
R&D Director
He is a graduate in veterinary medicine and has a PhD in food science and technology from the University of Zaragoza. He began his professional career as a researcher participating in different national and international projects focused on the agri-food sector. He is the author of different educational texts in special-interest magazines in the agri-food sector and the author/co-author of articles in high-impact academic journals. In addition, he has participated in different conferences and workshops related to the sector at the national and European levels. In 2020, he joined Naturuel S.L., part of the Térvalis Group, as Director of the R&D+i department where he performs project management and planning functions in the field of R&D+i. He is also involved in the design and development of new products and processes until their industrial implementation.
Naturuel S.L. is a company based in Teruel with a unique business model in the pig sector. It has an integrated production system that allows the control of each step, from obtaining and selecting the best cereals to elaboration of the final products (fresh and cured products) in different ways according to market demands and always under the strict ‘protected designation of origin’ (PDO) regulations, which guarantee the highest quality products. This entire process is safeguarded by the most demanding quality and food safety certifications. In addition, their farms have a leading certification in animal welfare, in line with the European Welfare Quality and AWIN regulations, and was also the first company certified by AENOR for antibiotic-free production.
Marc Bellés Safont
Mazana Piensos Compuestos S.L.U
Quality Manager
He graduated in veterinary medicine and in 2018, completed his doctoral work in the Department of Animal Production and Food Science and Technology at the University of Zaragoza. As a result of the research he carried out during in this period, he has published various articles in high-impact and informative scientific journals, and has participated in R&D projects with national and international companies, always linked to the world of meat quality and animal production. In 2018, he joined the Veterinary Department of Mazana Piensos Compuestos S.L.U., where he is responsible for the group’s food quality and safety.
Mazana is a family business based in Capella, a town with 300 inhabitants in the Ribagorza region in the province of Huesca. The Mazana Group conducts its business in the pig sector, applying the management model known as ‘livestock integration’. The company devotes all the necessary resources to the business to promote efficient and high production levels, guaranteeing food safety and quality at all times. The group’s current activity ranges from genetic selection and improvement to the live sale of fattening pigs, complemented by agriculture, feed manufacturing, and transport activities.
Raquel Ausejo
Magapor S.L.
Director of the R&D+i Biotechnology Department
Raquel Ausejo Marcos has a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Zaragoza. After finishing her studies in France, she completed a master’s degree in swine health and production taught by the Universities of Zaragoza, Lleida, Autónoma de Barcelona, and Complutense de Madrid, obtaining the prize for the best final master’s project of her year. After beginning her professional career as a veterinarian in the pig sector, she joined Magapor S.L. in 2010, initially as a technician and then becoming the director of the R&D+i department and the company’s veterinary technical service in August 2014. She is a swine reproduction adviser with international reach and recognised prestige and since 2012, she has been an adjunct professor on the same master’s degree she had previously studied, training its students in farm insemination practices. Furthermore, she has participated in various research projects aimed at improving productivity and modernisation of the pig sector. She is the author of numerous educational texts and is the co-author of articles in high-impact academic journals, in addition to participating as a speaker at international conferences and technical meetings.