100 Years and Counting…Our History
In this bright future, you can’t forget your past — Bob Marley
At Columbus we take this quote to heart. After 100 years of making cured meats in the San Francisco Bay Area — a deep respect for our heritage and culinary traditions continues to infuse and inform our craft today.
Much has changed since Columbus began producing salami in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood in 1917, but some things — the best things — haven’t. Take a look at where we came from.
1917: Peter Domenici and Enrico Parducci were among the Italian immigrants who settled in San Francisco after the earthquake and fire of 1906. The two men started the San Francisco Sausage Company — known today as Columbus Meats — out of a two-room flat. They opened and closed windows, using San Francisco’s perfect climate, to aid in the curing process.
1934: After earning a reputation for high quality craft meat around the Bay, we expanded with a new location in the heart of North Beach, where it all began.
1960’s: Columbus and a committed group of salami-makers convinced the USDA to create the standard of identity for “Italian Dry” salame. This requires the use of Old-World curing methods to create Columbus’ flagship salame and helped San Francisco secure the singular title of “Salami Capital of America.”
1967: As demand grew, we opened a Salumeria five miles south of San Francisco, where ocean and bay breezes perfectly mimic the temperature and humidity of North Beach.
1974: When customers asked us for deli meats with the same high standards as our salami, we answered with what’s now a full line of turkey, ham, roast beef and chicken in a variety of delicious flavors.
2007–2012: As demand grew, we opened a state-of-the-art Salumeria along with a new slicing facility east of San Francisco to deliver pre-sliced salami and deli meats.
2015: We closed our South San Francisco facility in order to expand our East Bay facility, which earned top results for food and environmental safety.
Today: We use the same uncompromising standards we had 100 years ago. This has made us the most widely distributed deli brand in the U.S.
