Jose Ignacio Ruiz Barbarin is the general manager of Arotz Foods, SA. Arotz has the largest truffle orchard in the world, with over 150,000 producing trees.

Jose earned a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in 1965. He then continued his education to receive a graduate degree in Business Administration by the IESE Business School, the graduate business school of the University of Navarra.

Jose began his professional career working for eight years for Cargill, Inc. as a commodity trader in Spain, the United Kingdom, and Turkey.

Jose then joined Ebro Puleva, the largest group in the Spanish food sector, nine years ago. He lived in Italy, near the Alba region, for two years, running rice operations for the company. In 2002, he moved back to Spain, where he became the general manager of Arotz Foods, SA.

By taking advantage of the experienced, patient and knowledgeable team at Arotz, Jose runs the plantation under the philosophy of letting nature do the work, while employing new technologies in the areas of GPS, maps, and irrigation, to help understand the mystery of truffles.

Jose and his wife Candelas have three children, who all love the country side and "hunting" truffles so much that the last three truffle dogs at the plantation have been named after the children.

*Jose Ignacio Ruiz Barbarin speaks fluent English