Publication: St. Louis Business Journal

Centuries ago Europeans developed a process for dry-preserving meats. Italians turned it into an art form, and John Volpi brought the practice to St. Louis in 1902.

Now Lorenza Pasetti, his great niece, is running the family company on The Hill. Most St. Louis customers know Volpi Foods as the corner retail store at Daggett and Edwards avenues. That corner is where the business started. But behind the storefront are the curing rooms of building Uno in the Volpi operation, with buildings Due and Tre a few blocks north. The operation, which employs 94 people, covers 160,000 square feet and generates revenue of just under $30 million, shipping to customers around the world.

Lorenza Pasetti, 47, learned the business from her father, Armando, who put her in charge in 2003. She and her husband, Donald Depke, live in Clayton with their three teenage children.

Volpi Foods is steeped in history. How much of that keeps you going?

We hold on to traditional values. We take care of employees. Quality of the product is at the forefront. We try to have the business live up to the values the family holds. I can’t think of a time (the history) held us back, but it kept us more focused. Over time people would suggest we try making pasta or Spanish-style sausages. We go back and look at our Italian heritage. That’s what we know the best. Why take our focus away from Italian dry-cured meat products? I wouldn’t call that holding us back. When you’re small, you can’t afford to get off focus.

How would you define your business?

We have our own little niche, but there are not a lot of people that want to be in this business. We ferment and dehydrate meat products. It’s a very old world process. Maybe because there’s not a lot of money in it, it doesn’t attract a lot of competition. If you’re not already in this business, it would require a huge investment. The prosciutto alone you have to keep it for 10 months before it’s finished.

So every time you expand your sales, you have to expand your curing space?

That’s the way this business grew. Mr. Volpi started selling retail, and as business grew, he added on one room at a time, as a lot of small businesses do. With this kind of product there’s a lot of inventory because of the drying process.

You sell worldwide. Do you have customers in Italy?

No. We know of another Volpi salumeiri in northern Italy. It’s a different business. I’m not sure if the families are related or not. We don’t sell back to Europe. They have enough of us (salumieri) there. Most of our competition comes from European companies that have built plants in the United States. They have deeper pockets than we do.

Are they a threat?

By being small, we can react to customer requests faster. Being family owned, profit is important to us, but it’s not always the main criteria on a decision, because it’s our family’s name out there. That’s an advantage we have because the competition is driven by the dollar.

Tell me about salumieri?

It’s a place where dry-cured sausages and meat products are made, all different kinds. Unfortunately, in America this is in its infancy still, even after 100 years. A lot of people still don’t know “pancetta,” (rolled bacon) “coppa” (pork shoulder) or “bresaola” (beef). They know “prosciutto,” more so in the last 20 years. A lot of it is due to The Food Network, which has exposed and educated people on these products.

What was your first job out of college?

An assistant bookkeeper here. I grew up in the business, though I didn’t always have my hands in the production side of it. I didn’t work any where else, and that was probably a mistake. Having outside experience would have been helpful. But I learned how to do all the jobs in the company.

Was your schooling here?

For college I went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, then to Washington University where I got my MBA.

What influenced you growing up?

rdesloge@bizjournals.com