Can’t get enough Salume Beddu? Now you can get a whole lot more.
Owner Mark Sanfilippo recently started up production in a new 8,000-square-foot facility on Indian Head Industrial Court in Olivette.
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To put that size in perspective, the fermentation room alone lets him process six times the amount of meat as he could in his original location at 3467 Hampton Avenue (right).
“A real estate agent found me and showed me the place,” Sanfilippo says. “Several small-business loans later, here we are.”
He now has, among other things, loading docks, a huge walk-in refrigerator and freezer, a separate peeling area with a high-powered exhaust hood and several office spaces, including a permanent office for the USDA inspectors who are on-site every day.
The new facility also includes specially designed technology like the control system for the cure room that regulates humidity using dew point.
Build-out of the leased space began in October and move-in started in January. The building formerly housed Deli Food Manufacturing, whose name conceals the fact that it makes egg rolls and other appetizers for Chinese restaurants in 30 states.
Because the building had previously housed food production, Sanfilippo was able to save time in the regulatory and permitting process, although he had to replace or add a significant amount of electrical, plumbing and other infrastructure.
“Almost from the day we opened on Hampton, we were slammed in terms of the amount of salami we could make to keep up with the demand,” Sanfilippo said. “And now, in addition to the greatly increased capacity for our main products, I’ll be able to take some of the ones I’ve made as one-offs – the lavender one and the hazelnut one, for example – and put them in the regular rotation.”
Salume Beddu opened its retail location in 2010 and was cited by Forbes magazine the next year as having the best salami in America. Sanfilippo’s former partner, Ben Poremba, now operates several of St. Louis’ leading restaurants. Production manager Cary Exler currently owns a minority stake in the business. Sanfilippo says that he has no plans to sell products from the new location and that all direct retail sales will continue at the Hampton location, with Salume Beddu products also available at select markets and stores.
