It all started on a family trip to New York in 2001. "We were in the famous gourmet store Dean & DeLuca, it was the year of the attack on the Twin Towers ... Seeing many of the things they offered, I thought we could bring them here," recalls Antonio Ortega, founder of Casa Ortega, a gourmet showcase that, from Alcázar de San Juan (Ciudad Real. 30,500 inhabitants), distributes its products throughout Spain and Europe.
From its excellent meats and its more than 100 varieties of champagne to pastas and legumes of height, cans of anchovies and cheeses, passing through wines from half the world, oves and chocolates to touch the sky ... Its catalog has more than 10,000 references -they incorporate between 10-12 novelties per week- and they have record delivery times. This is a familiar story with La Mancha in the background that is built in bites.
"If today an order is placed at 16 pm, tomorrow you have it at home before 13 pm," explains Ignacio Ortega (34), one of Toni and Paqui's sons – the other, Fran, also works in the business – and a key part of the present and future of the brand. He studied at Cunef in the capital and after finishing his degree he moved through the world of finance in New York, London and Madrid. "I tried to get into private banking at JP Morgan, but they didn't catch me. I think that in the interview I told them too much about Casa Ortega and they thought I was going to leave there soon if they chose me," he recalls sarcastically.
And they were not very misguided. "It's true that I've always been very aware of the family business." After setting up a catering in Marbella -named Lola de España- and a brief stay in Miami, he returned to La Mancha to throw himself fully into his 'home'. "I sat down with my father and said, 'What do I do?'"
The list of assigned functions has been growing: having the catalog permanently updated -"my father takes more the subject of meat", he clarifies-, control and optimize the delivery times of orders, maintain excellence in all processes, expand market ... "We're the greatest of artisans and we don't want to make the leap and lose that."
The meats are a reference of this family business.
NINE BUTCHER SHOPS IN THE AREA
The pace in the shop/warehouse in Alcázar starts to pick up speed at noon, although the activity here starts very early. It's Monday and in the butcher shop area a couple of people make the sausages, which are always made at the beginning of the week, while in the next room orders of sausages that go out for hospitality are packaged. A few meters away, two butchers move pieces in one of the chambers. "We have nine butcher shops of our own in the area and the trays are prepared for the day. What is not sold, comes back here," says Ignacio, who as a boy worked in the harvest, in the orchard and in the butcher shop: "I know how to cut and fillete all the animals. I learned the latter in the summer of first year of ESO," he says as he guides the facility. He knows business theory well, but he embroiders practice.
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The Ortegas come from a family of cattle ranchers. "We are now five generations," says Ignacio. His mobile does not stop ringing and he calmly answers the most urgent calls. Talk to a supplier, ask for a product you've seen on Instagram and solve an issue with a delivery. "We send orders every day of the week. At Casa Ortega you pick up the phone even on Sundays and we answer by whatsapp". And if there is a problem they mobilize quickly to find a solution: "Once we had an incident with an order in the south of France; It didn't arrive and the customer needed it. One person from the team took a car to personally deliver it in a matter of hours." The detail is always taken into account. "It's a way to differentiate ourselves from the competition."
Casa Ortega has more than 10,000 references in the catalogue.
The beginnings of the store date back more than 20 years. "My father was very fond of buying wines, and there came a time when it was not viable to store more." So the idea arose to start selling them in their butcher shops, where they also offer homemade prepared food. "Little by little we were incorporating other products and until today." The meatballs, the salad or the anchovies in vinegar are essential of the menu. Paqui, Ignacio's mother, runs the kitchen part with a team of five people, from which the catering that serves weddings and events is also prepared. The total team of the company is currently made up of more than 70 people. "We have several generations of the same family and many have been with us all their lives," says Ignacio.
On a good day they can receive 300 orders; at Christmas they exceed 400. "In December they buy us 15 and 20 hams a day. They are sliced on the same day and sent the next. Nobody in this sector does that," Ignacio presumes. The times and flexibility have allowed them to "retain many of the customers", who are divided 50% in hospitality and 50% individuals. "We do a very tailor-made service." Among his usual audience, a little bit of everything: "There are great businessmen and restaurants and also ordinary people. We treat everyone equally." This variety is also reflected in the catalog: "You can find the most premium and also mid-range products."
The offer of wines and champagnes is very wide.
In a pandemic, it was Ignacio who insisted on opening the web despite his father's initial reluctance. "Now I recognize that it was a success," says Toni sitting at the table in his office. Until Alcázar de San Juan have come brands of the competition to browse what they did. "In the end, we have put our town on the map," says Ignacio, who is now preparing to land in Madrid with a small store in the Salamanca neighborhood.
On a trip to New York, Casa Ortega emerged. From each of the destinations they visit – they are travelers by nature – products and ideas are brought to continue growing. Don Quixote of La Mancha already said it: "He who reads a lot and walks a lot, sees a lot and knows a lot".
- Castile-La Mancha
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