From Milan to Chercos and from Chercos to Copenhagen: the jam from a village of 301 residents

In ten days, the jams of a village of 301 residents have been to Paris and to Copenhagen. They are made by Lorusso, the small factory that operates in Chercos, in the Sierra de los Filabres. From 17 to 21 October they were at the SIAL fair in Paris, on the stand of Sabores Almería, Almería Provincial Council’s gourmet brand. And on Monday 26 October they arrived at Taste Spain Copenhagen, an ICEX event at which the three Almería firms taking part gave 150 buyers a taste of their products, according to the Provincial Council.

It was no ordinary showcase. Only companies that do not yet have a distributor in the country can attend that event, the Provincial Council explains, and what they are looking for is to close direct deals with importers, distributors, shops and restaurants. The Almería Chamber of Commerce paid for the travel and accommodation, and the Provincial Council paid for their participation in the event.

A Milanese man, a woman from Almería and a trip to India

The company itself tells the story on its website, almost like a film script. Biagio Lorusso, from Milan, inherited a taste for artisan cooking from his mother, Domenica. Having turned 40, he travelled to India, and there he met Isabel Martínez Sáez, a woman from Almería. He ended up leaving Milan to join her in the south, and the two of them settled in Chercos, “a small village in the South of Spain where they live surrounded by tranquillity, simplicity and contact with nature”, as they write.

That is where LoRUSSo was born, with the slogan “HeArt Made Food”. Joining the project were Isabel’s brother, who stopped a round-the-world trip to be part of it from the very start, and a friend from Genoa who was living in Milan. As we reported in elValle Actualidad in January 2024, the factory got under way in 2015 in a former carpentry workshop in the village.

Its jams contain 85% fruit and a reduced amount of cane sugar. The fruit is organic and comes from small farmers; the jams are made in small quantities, using renewable energy, and are packed in glass jars that are “screen-printed and labelled by hand”, according to the company. Biagio is, as its website introduces him, “our flavour manager at the factory”, and the vegetable garden is his “second passion”.

From Lyon to Copenhagen

Trade fairs are nothing new for Lorusso: according to its list of achievements, in 2015 it already represented “Marca España” (Brand Spain) at the Universal Expo in Milan. But over the last two years it has gone from one event to the next with Sabores Almería and the Chamber of Commerce. These are the ones outside Spain that the Provincial Council has recorded since January 2025:

• 2025: Lyon (SIRHA), Nuremberg (BioFach, one of the major organic trade fairs), Dubai (Gulfood), Tokyo (Foodex), New York (Summer Fancy Food), Miami (Americas Food) and Belgrade (Taste Spain).
• 2026: Singapore (Food and Hospitality Asia), Shanghai (SIAL), Toronto and Montreal (Sabores Almería’s first trade mission to Canada), Paris (SIAL) and Copenhagen (Taste Spain).

In Lyon, in January 2025, the company explained what it was looking for in France in these words: “We have been working in France for several years and we have the opportunity to meet new customers and develop our brand here”, as reported by the Provincial Council. On its website, Lorusso says it was born “with Global DNA” and speaks of “3 continents, 17 countries”.

Awards have come along the way. According to the company itself, its jams have won a gold medal every year between 2017 and 2024 at the World’s Original Marmalade Awards, in the United Kingdom, and its list of achievements also includes the 2021 Economy Award from the Almería Association of Economists and third prize for the best organic product at the 2022 Salón Gourmets.

What it means for Chercos

Chercos had 301 residents on 1 January 2025, according to the INE, Spain’s National Statistics Institute. And yet it contributes three products to the prize hamper of the 4th Ruta de Sabores del Almanzora (Almanzora Flavours Route), this autumn’s edition: rosquillas (ring-shaped pastries) from Comestibles Carmen, an assortment from Panadería Torrecillas and a box with two Lorusso jams, according to Turismo Almanzora.

The village is still its home: in January 2023, the Andalusian regional government (Junta de Andalucía) awarded it €39,873 in rural development grants to expand and modernise the factory, according to La Comarca. A company from such a small village sitting down to negotiate in Shanghai, Toronto or Copenhagen is a powerful argument for rural Almería: you can work in the mountains and sell far away.

Biagio left Milan, the company’s website recounts, “in search of love, serenity, inspiration, and direct contact with nature”. More than ten years later, the journey runs the other way: it is Chercos that is leaving home, packed into a glass jar.