Héctor Pérez Ramos was
not born in Galicia, although he is Galician.
And it is by family and by will.
He came to the world in Madrid (1985), but at the age of 19 he decided to return - by himself - to Castroverde (Lugo), the town of his parents.
What will this have to do with the story we are going to tell? They will ask themselves.
Well, more than you think, because yours has been
a round trip
.
Madrid- Castroverde, Castroverde-Madrid are the key to a business that has arisen -almost- from ruin in the
midst of a pandemic
and which has represented the rebirth of Héctor and his Forno de Lugo, a workshop specialized in selling at
fairs and markets
- from Spain and outside of it- of Lugo artisan bakery and pastry products ... That was until 2020. The stoppage and the crisis that the coronavirus brought about mutated into opportunity and a
reformulation of the business
. And, from the street stalls, it has become the owner of
nine stores
: one in Vigo, another in Lugo and seven more in Madrid. All, opened in
less than a year
and, in most cases,
with a former employee
as a partner.
All, with their own products and also from their neighbors in the
mountains of Lugo
.
The breads are made in an artisan way.
Héctor counted for the change with many things in his favor: an
enviable
transport logistics
built for more than a decade;
partners and a well-known name in many Spanish cities and towns.
"Our
breads, empanadas and sweets
were highly valued wherever we went," explains Pérez.
More than 15 years from
fair to fair
help ... He started just arrived in Castroverde. First, by selling the products he bought to his neighbors; later, their own breads and sweets. And, one day more than a decade ago, Forno de Lugo was born. "I
bought the tents and the tackle
from a colleague who was retiring and, without thinking much about it, I gave him that name." It started rolling even more. "I have always held
medieval markets and patron saint festivals
and, as more places were proposed to me, I bought more material, more vans, I hired people ...".
He even set up the workshop from which
Galician breads come out every day
(from the country with sourdough, rye ...), empanadas (up to 18 varieties, made with
seasonal products
, for example, ham with turnip greens, scallops, octopus, cockles , mussels), donuts, cakes ... All Galician, all artisan.
They serve up to 18 varieties of empanadas, made with seasonal products.
THE COVID STOP
Héctor continues with the story: "We became professionalized and became one of the most cutting-edge bakeries. We made
up to 120 assemblies a year.
We went to Ceuta, Melilla, Barcelona, Ibiza, Madrid ... Even Paris and Marseille," he recalls. So every year,
from March (Las Fallas) to January 6 (Reyes)
, Héctor and the employees he hired each season (he had between 20 and 25 employees) took the vans and traveled the country from market to market.
And, in those I was, waiting for the 2020 fairs and parties to start, when what started was the Covid. "I thought it
was going to be a month
, so I did not paralyze the insurance of the vans or trucks. I was convinced that we would start in April, then in May ... Later, I thought there
would be fairs in July
." But they didn't come that July, and neither will they this July.
"I was completely ruined. I endured the summer by selling the quad, the car and everything I had. I rented my house on the weekends ...
I was left with nothing
."
Well, he did have something, although at the time he didn't see it.
"Bea, a friend and former employee of mine, encouraged me to
set up a shop in Vigo
to sell my bread, which I liked very much there; we used to go twice a year and they were always waiting for us," he adds.
Hëctor Pérez, during a fair in Madrid before the Covid.
"Weird it will be that we don't defend ourselves, she told me."
And more than defense, what started was an
attack
.
In September the first store was opened on Vigo land and the recovery began.
Forno de Lugo was looking at the capital
.
"Another colleague told me why we didn't set up something in Madrid, where everyone knew me. We have been to any Christmas or medieval market in Madrid. If we are even better known than in Vigo ...".
No sooner said than done.
On October 3, they opened in
Carabanchel
, on La Laguna street.
"We realized the cost of transport, since every day of the year we bring the products from Lugo. So we needed
more bakeries to amortize the cost
of the van."
Fifteen days later the store of
Guzmán el Bueno, 75,
opened its doors
.
The expansion continued: Calle Mayor de Alcorcón;
López de Hoyos, 87;
Plaza Río 2;
Alcala 310;
La Gavia Shopping Center ... In each of them, Héctor is associated with a former worker or colleague at the fair.
"They put the money and I the vans, the product and the
know-how
, what do they call it," he explains.
Pastry is another of the pillars of Forno de Lugo.
HANDMADE AND PROXIMITY PRODUCTS
The
conversion
has been successful. "I looked ahead and took the only path I saw. If you sell
good things at a good price
, you can't go wrong," he says. "I have always been very freaky about the product of the rural area of Castroverde. In my town, everyone has cows, produces honey, cheeses, sausages ... When we started with the stores in Madrid, I decided to bet on
my artisan products zone
, which are among the best in the national territory, convinced that they will work very well. "
And boy they have.
Every night (at 24 hours) they
leave Lugo bound for the
Madrid
Forno de Horno
sausages Teijeiro de Sarria;
Santo André de Castroverde cheeses;
chorizos from Grandmother Delfina from Triacastela and from Montelugo from A Pontenova;
Lugo vermouth from El Riba;
honeys from different suppliers and, in season, kennebec potatoes (from September to March);
Fresh and authentic turnip greens
(February) ... All from small artisans "from the mountains of Lugo and my people," he points out.
They also sell artisan products from small Galician producers.
"I am proud
to
act
as a bridge
between this small rural area and the capital of Spain. I do not know if it is because of the climate, because of the geographical situation, because of the
affection that people give it
, but the products here have an incredible category. excellent ". This
Castroverde-Madrid
bridge is
still under construction: in September it plans to
open another six locations
. It seems unstoppable: "We will open more", he advances.
Among so many shops have you lost the
soul of a fairground
?
"No. I'm not going to stop doing markets and fairs. It's
what I like the most
and how I feel the best. Now everything is stopped, some things are coming out, but nothing comparable with the six, even 10 fairs that we did on the weekends of week before the pandemic. "
He concludes: "I love getting
in the van and being an ambassador for my people
. Going to Valencia, Barcelona ... loaded with the best products I can carry. Being this week in Murcia, the next in Ibiza ...
It's my passion
" .
And there we leave him, among breads and products of his land, waiting for a market that fills his soul as a fairground.
Meanwhile, it has the Castroverde-Madrid, Madrid-Castroverde route.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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