Few businesses on The Hill can match the staying power of Volpi Foods. The company traces its roots to 1902, when an Italian immigrant named John Volpi began curing salami for his neighbors. More than 120 years later, it remains family-owned, its products sit in grocery cases across the country, and its shop still welcomes customers in the neighborhood where it started.
From Milan to The Hill
According to the company, John Volpi arrived in America from Milan in 1899, hoping to carry the Italian tradition of dry-curing meats to the Midwest. Three years later, in 1902, he went into business on The Hill. KSDK reports that he first made salami and sausages in a friend’s kitchen before opening the first Volpi-owned shop in the neighborhood.
One of his early products was cacciatore, a small salami sized to slip into a worker’s pocket. The company’s own history says it was meant for local clay miners, while Wikipedia describes them as coal miners. The two accounts do not agree on which kind.
The craft
Volpi worked without refrigeration or electricity. The company says he controlled the temperature and humidity of his drying rooms by opening and closing windows, relying on methods he had learned in Italy. That focus on slow-aged, dry-cured meats defines the business today: Wikipedia counts roughly 130 products, all of them dry-cured, including salami, prosciutto, sopressata and bresaola. NextSTL, quoting the company’s website in 2017, reported that Volpi’s facilities are named Uno, Due and Tre, each with its own climate, humidity and airflow.
A family succession
John Volpi and his wife had no children, so they looked to family in Italy for help. In 1938, his 14-year-old nephew, Armando Pasetti, crossed the ocean by boat, lived above the shop and learned the trade from the ground up. Pasetti took over after his uncle’s death. The company, a KSDK business profile and Wikipedia date the handoff to 1957, while KSDK’s obituary of Pasetti and Meat+Poultry give 1958 as the start of his leadership, which lasted until 2002.
Under Pasetti, KSDK says, the company gained national distribution. Around 1980 he brought his daughter, Lorenza Pasetti, into the business; KSDK says she started at 14, wrapping salami and working in the store. She took over in 2002, a century after the founding. Armando Pasetti died in December 2020 at age 96.
Lorenza Pasetti has been identified as CEO in coverage from 2020 through 2024 (one undated KSDK piece calls her president), and the company’s recognition page lists her as 2024 Mindful CEO of the Year. The current Volpi website, dated 2026, says she runs the company, though it does not state her title. The company’s website says its traditions have been carried on for four generations.
Growth beyond the neighborhood
As demand rose, Volpi added production space outside the city. The company operates a prosciutto plant in Union, Missouri, in Franklin County, and in April 2021 it announced a two-story slicing and packaging facility beside it, which Deli Market News said was expected to begin operations that month. Reported sizes vary, from about 70,000 to about 89,000 square feet. Pasetti told the Missouri Partnership, “The facility was definitely built for growth,” pointing to pandemic-era demand for sealed, pre-sliced packages.
Recognition
- A Good Food Award and a Specialty Food Association sofi Gold Award for Heritage Prosciutto in 2020
- Feast Magazine’s Best Charcuterie Maker in 2019
- Specialty Food Association Hall of Fame induction for Lorenza Pasetti in 2021
- A St. Louis Business Journal Family Business Award in 2023
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Workplace honors in 2023, 2024 and 2025
Visiting the shop
The retail shop stands at 5256 Daggett Avenue, the address given by the Riverfront Times, St. Louis Italians and Wikipedia. Other listings differ: Volpi’s website gives a corporate address of 5263 Northrup Avenue, KSDK placed the original store on Northrup, a federal USDA inspection listing uses 5254 Daggett Avenue, and a 2017 NextSTL report on a $250,000 permit for interior and exterior renovations of the store gave 5258 Daggett Avenue. In 2021, local artist Jordan Bauer painted a mural at the shop honoring The Hill as the company approached its 120th anniversary. The deli sells sliced meats, cheeses, sandwiches and party trays. The website still posted store hours in 2026, but hours vary between sources, so check before you go.
For more on the neighborhood’s past, see our History of The Hill timeline.
Sources: Volpi Foods history, Volpi Foods About, Volpi Foods Recognition, KSDK (family business), KSDK (Armando Pasetti), KSDK (Union expansion), Meat+Poultry, Missouri Partnership, Deli Market News, NextSTL, Riverfront Times, St. Louis Italians (mural), USDA FSIS, APP Tour (Volpi partnership), Wikipedia
