30 years ago, the Salazar-Arroyo family started a venture that would forever change the perception of pork in Pasto. Jorge Mario Salazar Arroyo, today the legal representative of Las Carnes del Sebastián, remembers the beginnings of this family dream with a mixture of pride and nostalgia. In the San Rafael village of the municipality of Consacá, his father Oscar Salazar, a visionary man, set up a small pig farm with five females and one male.
At that time, the market was plagued with taboos about the quality of pork, especially if the animals were black. Urban legends about their diet with lavaza made their marketing difficult. The first five pigs were sold to the town butcher, who did not pay even 50% of the raising cost. It was a daunting experience, but Oscar did not give up.
Despite the initial challenges, Oscar and his wife Sofía Arroyo, with unwavering determination, opened the first butcher shop in Pasto that revolutionized the concept of selling pork. With refrigerated display cases, electric saws and hygienically packaged meat, they changed the landscape of local butcher shops, where meat was hung on hooks and packaged in newspaper.
Jorge Mario, from a young age, became involved in the family business. At the age of 13, he was already supervising the slaughter of steers to avoid losses. Over time, he decided to study veterinary medicine at the De La Salle University in Bogotá. There, his practice at the Guadalupe slaughter plant, the largest in the country, allowed him to gain valuable experience.
Upon returning to Pasto, Jorge Mario found a growing family business but with great challenges. With vision and tenacity, he assumed leadership, establishing a slaughter plant in Cujacal and modernizing the production process. The introduction of innovative products such as smoked ribs and the use of advanced technology marked a before and after.
In 2007, Jorge Mario presented a project to Mypime, winning it and obtaining advice from a German sausage expert. This advice was crucial to perfect the quality and presentation of their products, consolidating Las Carnes del Sebastián as a quality benchmark.
Today, Jorge Mario Salazar and his family continue to innovate, demonstrating that with effort and passion, taboos can be overcome and transform a family dream into a legacy of meat excellence.
