Dry-cured Iberian pork products have long been a traditional and highly appreciated
delicacy in Spain, and because of their excellent sensorial and nutritional
qualities, their market is now growing rapidly worldwide. They are usually marketed
in a whole-piece format or sliced in vacuum-packed trays, but both of these
formats present problems for the consumer (difficulty of slicing the whole piece,
loss of sensory properties once the vacuum-packed tray is opened . . .). This paper
uses conjoint analysis to examine a new packaging format (called “slice slab”) for
dry-cured meat products that aims to overcome these problems. The product
selected for analysis was Iberian dry-cured ham, as it is the most frequently consumed
Iberian pork product. Data were collected by means of a survey conducted
with 320 Spanish consumers from January to May 2010. Overall, the consumers
preferred Iberian mast-fed ham, conventionally sliced and at the lowest price (5 €/
100 g). Three well-defined preference-based clusters were identified: traditional
consumers (n = 114), price-insensitive consumers (n = 113) and innovative consumers
(n = 93). Analysis of the clusters indicated that sliced slab ham may be an
interesting alternative for the most innovative consumers, who are willing to pay a
premium for this packaging format.