The company Productos para el buen comer SL came about as a result of the original shop selling foodstuffs called Fausto Izquierdo Pérez, founded on 7th January 1950 by Fausto Izquierdo Pérez, born in Mora de Rubielos (Teruel) and his wife María Tarongí Fuster, from Sineu (Mallorca).

It all began back in 1946, when Fausto was sent to Mallorca to do his military service and ended up at barracks in Sineu, where he met María.  When the obligatory 36 months’ service was up, they married in Sineu on 4th October, 1949.  Shortly afterwards, the opportunity arose to take a stall at the Santa Catalina Market in Palma, which they were able to open on 7th January 1950.

The real story of this family business starts from this period.  Today, it is run by the third generation of the Izquierdo Tarongí family, namely María Izquierdo and her husband, Juan José Sánchez.

The first years were naturally very hard, as to be expected after a civil war followed by rationing.  The ups and downs experienced by my parents, Fausto and María, were many indeed, but when I see my mother’s face light up today at the sight of her grandchildren running the business she started with her own husband (because for her, Juanjo is just as much a grandchild as María), I too am filled with pride and the only person missing is my father, Fausto, who was really the catalyst behind the whole enterprise.  Bear in mind that before marrying, my mother had never worked in a food shop nor undertaken any other kind of paid work.  My father, on the other hand, had been working - prior to doing his military service - in different grocery shops (called ultramarinos back then) in Valencia, where his family spent the war after being evacuated from his native town in 1937.

I apologize for this rather long and sentimental introduction but without these details, none of the stalls at the Santa Catalina Market would enjoy the life and spirit that they share: that of the family…

My contribution to this saga began at the end of the 60´s, when I was an adolescent student.  My father fell ill, and being an only child, there was only me to lend a hand to  my mother.  In the beginning, like most people, I didnt relish having to stay behind to help my folks with the shop whilst my schoolfriends enjoyed their holidays; but later on, I was able to appreciate it for helping me to take on more responsibilities and love this job even more.

When people ask me how old I was when I began, I always reply that I destroyed my first ham aged 9!  In other words, I’ve been working here all my life and hope to be around to continue badgering my children for many more, as well as seeing clients, many of whom are no longer clients but friends and enjoy wonderful conversations about food and cooking as well as personal or social chit chat.

With the passage of time, and faced with present-day demands, we began to hire people from outside of the family in 2000.  I say this by way of thanking those who are currently working with us and those who, for whatever reason, are no longer with us because without them, we would never have been able to grow the business as we have done.

In fact, I would like to take the opportunity of extending a very big thank you to each and every one of our clients, suppliers, friends and others who has helped make our small family-run business able to celebrate 60 years.  With your continued help, we hope to be able to carry on doing so for many more.

With sincere thanks

Your truly

Virgilio Izquierdo Tarongí