Artisans of Cold Cuts since 1806

1806

Lorenzo di Angelo and the first Falorni butcher’s shop

Our history as butchers and master salumieri began over two centuries ago in the heart of the Chianti region, when in 1806 Lorenzo di Angelo Falorni converted the family osteria into a thriving butcher’s shop, later extending the business to include two more butcher’s shops and a slaughterhouse.

1844

The Historic Butcher Shop in Greve in Chianti is founded

Lorenzo’s grandson Giuseppe di Michele Falorni, moves with his wife and young daughter to Greve in Chianti, where he opens up shop on the premises that are still home to today’s “Antica Macelleria Falorni”.

Falorni meat products are already renowned for their quality, and indeed Giuseppe starts selling them outside his own town.

1910

Caterina Mori: a special woman, for a ‘man’s job’

One of Giuseppe’s sons, Lorenzo, marries Caterina Mori di Montefioralle, an energetic, dynamic woman. After her husband’s death, she continues running the butcher’s shop along with her nephew Ulisse, and begins selling soaps and lamp oil made from pig fat, alongside the main business.

1930

Antica Macelleria Falorni, a Chianti institution!

In 1930 Ulisse purchases his Aunt Caterina’s butcher’s shop and family home, along with other adjacent buildings which he would use as preparation and processing rooms. In just a few years he builds up the business to become the third-largest butcher’s shop among the twelve situated in Greve and Panzano in Chianti.

1940

Specialisation: the Falorni family, Master Salumieri

Ulisse’s daughter Venturina inherits the family business, and runs it with her husband, Raffaello Bencistà. Most of their customers are still local people; they also provide pork processing services to the area’s farms and smallholdings.

Raffaello, who has a head for business, wants to increase sales. So he decides to focus his energies onto their most emblematic product, one that is easy to store and to give as a gift: cured meats.

1950

Stefano and Lorenzo, “butchers by birth”!

In the mid-1940s, Lorenzo and Stefano Falorni are born. They spend time at the butcher’s shop from a very early age, and accompany their father to local farms even before taking their first steps!

These were the economic boom years in Italy: meat and charcuterie were becoming less of a special holiday treat; their customers increased, and their production adjusted to meet the new needs of Italian families.

1960 – 1970

For new customers, new cold cuts with a traditional flavour

The Chianti region starts attracting large numbers of tourists: German and British visitors are smitten with its natural landscape, gourmet food and slow, relaxed pace of life.

Lorenzo and Stefano immediately grasp the potential of this new market.

They renovate the machinery of the Public Slaughterhouse at their own expense, in order to improve and refine the flavour of their cold cuts while maintaining the same authenticity and unique qualities as ever.

1971

“Debut” in the international press

The mouthwatering flavours, quality and authenticity of their cold cuts, and a talent for communicating their products and their world of values, create interest in the Antica Macelleria Falorni: in 1971 a two-page spread is published in Capital.

But that was just the beginning…

1975

Antica Macelleria Falorni and Slow Food

Lorenzo and Stefano Bencistà strike up their remarkable friendship and partnership with Carlo Petrini, the founder of Arcigola – which later became Slow Food in the 1980s – with Stefano becoming a board member of the association.

The Falorni brothers are firm believers in what would become a full-blown trend in the decades to come: an attention to regional characteristic and the rediscovery of gastronomical traditions.

1975 – 1980

Cold cuts from Chianti travel the world

The newspapers have nothing but praise for Antica Macelleria Falorni and its first-class cold cuts, which are being exported from Tuscany to all over the
world.

Lorenzo and Stefano begin offering tasters of this legacy of flavour and traditions at major Italian trade fairs, from the Salone del Gusto to Vinitaly.

1980 – 1990

Stefano and Lorenzo, from artisans to entrepreneurs

Stefano and Lorenzo purchase the Public Slaughterhouse and turn it into Tuscany’s leading, family-run chain for butchering, processing and retail.

Evolving from artisans into true entrepreneurs, they vastly increase their production volumes and begin selling outside of the direct channel that was their historic Greve in Chianti shop.

1990 – 2000

Antica Macelleria Falorni, a fully-fledged business

Antica Macelleria Falorni’s production, sales and reputation grow year on year. The historic butcher shop’s sign becomes an official brand, known and loved
the world over.

New recipes are created such as the first prepared meats made with Wild Boar, while traditional recipes are carefully protected and improved.

Antica Macelleria Falorni offers the full range of Tuscan salumi, while continuing to process high quality fresh meat.

TODAY

An all-Italian story

Today the company is part of an entrepreneurial group of flourishing businesses related to the high-quality food and wine industry, run by Lorenzo and Stefano Bencistà Falorni and children.

Recognised by Unioncamere as one of the 150 companies that have made the history of Italy, the Falorni family proudly exports its products to around 60 countries.