Our Family History

He dries his meat using the same method he’d learned in Italy:

Opening and shutting windows to control the temperature and humidity of the air. Back then he didn’t have the modern convenience of electricity or refrigeration — he simply had to know the process so well he could literally feel it in the air.

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1938

John recruits his fourteen-year-old nephew, Armando Pasetti, from Italy. Armando travels by boat to his new home in America and lives upstairs from the shop to learn the business just as his uncle had: from the bottom-up.

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1957

John passes the business to Armando who begins planning to make his mark. Back in the 50s, if you wanted prosciutto, Sopressata, bresaola, or salami at your family party, you had to visit Armando at the Volpi store.

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1980

All that planning pays off and in 1980 Armando brings Volpi Foods national. He enlists his daughter, Lorenza, to help out. Just like her father, the family business is her calling and she dives right into learning the curing process first-hand.

2002

In 2002, exactly 100 years after John Volpi opened the storefront, Lorenza takes over the business.

She continues to refine her great-uncle’s craft — keeping true to the techniques and recipes John first brought from Italy.

Corporate Careers

Four Generations of volpi

Today, we’re proud to say that we’re still family-owned and operated. And our home remains on The Hill, where we’ve been serving generations of meat lovers since 1902. When you’re in our neighborhood, come by and say hello!