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A Tavola September 01 2007
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| A Tavola |
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A Tavola, September 01 2007
Levoni: the salumi of winged pigs
The trademark of this Mantua company, that has been offering uncompromised high quality products for almost one hundred years, was taken from an amusing anecdote.
It was 1913. Just one year before the breakout of WWI, Europeans were tense. However, in London the citizens were hopeful, as usual. At their "Modern Arts and Industry" international exhibition, Londoners exchanged comments on foreign exhibitors. One of them, addressing a young and stern Italian
holding a basket full of salumi, stated peremptorily: "Here in London, with these sausages you're never going to win, my friend! At least until pigs grow wings". The Londoners burst out laughing, whilst the young man frowned more serious than ever. The very next day, this Italian named Ezechiello Levoni, was awarded the Gold Medal at the London Exhibition and became part of the top producers of quality food with his tiny salumi factory. From that far off day, Ezechiello swore never to compromise on his product quality … at least until pigs grew wings! Having learnt from local butchers, Ezechiello guided the growth of the Levoni company step by step from Castellucchio in the province of Mantua. With great attention and perseverance, selecting the best raw materials with care, travelling as far as Dalmatia to learn the art of smoking salumi, acquiring plants within the areas of origin of the best breeding farms and distributing his products only to those deli meat shops offering the best in storing, displaying and serving. When the company management was passed on to his three children, business continued to grow in Italy and aboard, while maintaining the same quality standards. The range of classical products – like Hungarian salami, Cacciatore and Mantovano del Po – were enriched by new salumi. With the two World Wars behind, the Levoni family's third generation had to face the toughest challenge: increasing product volumes whilst keeping the standards of artisan productions. It was then decided to continue using natural flavourings for the recipes and the smoking method perfected by grandpa Ezechiello, with natural selected wood from the Alps. Today, led by the family's fourth generation, Levoni is a modern company producing more than 200 types of salumi, which are exported worldwide, from Europe to America and Japan, and which are distributed in specialised shops and in the best restaurants in Italy and the rest of the world. The key element is still the special care
for the best Italian food traditions, evidence of which is the inclusion of typical salumi in its product range, such as Parma and San Daniele PDO hams, Cacciatore PDO salami and other numerous salumi bearing the PGI mark. They are all produced with carefully selected meats without adding sources of gluten and lactose. This attitude and the care for quality over the last century explain why, when the Levoni family had to decide which "signature" would identify their products, it chose a symbol representing the success of 1913 and the "zero compromise" approach with a smile: a small winged pig, that would be as amusing and unbelievable as the company's likeliness to compromise on quality. |
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Download the pdf file (1.26 MB)