LEVONI

Milan, 1911: Ezechiello Levoni rented his first salumi factory at the gateway to this large city. This was the beginning of a story that would turn the Levoni name into a symbol of quality worldwide. Until then, Ezechiello had worked for other butchers learning the art of making salumi and cherishing the dream of establishing his own business: this would be the only way to produce superior quality salumi, without bowing to standards imposed by others. A radical choice meaning sacrifice and hardship, but which would result in great success in a very short time. Only two years later, in 1913, London’s International Exhibition for Modern Arts and Industry rewarded the uncompromising quality pursued by Ezechiello. The gold medal awarded to the Hungarian Salami produced at the small artisan factory of this young unknown Italian, was a surprise for all those British gentlemen who had sardonically stated, (quoting a famous Anglo-Saxon saying), that Levoni would only win, ‘when pigs grew wings’. The motto «mai ali!» (Wings never! Simply by altering the spelling of the Italian word for pig) adopted by Ezechiello, and the winged pig used as the company symbol, are still today a reminder of this victory, achieved thanks to the will to produce nothing but excellent salumi, but with humility and passion. Almost a century has passed since then: Ezechiello took over an old salumi factory in Castellucchio, in the province of Mantua – which is still the Company headquarters – and there he started to widen the range of speciality products to be sold in Italy and abroad, with an undeviating focus on improving quality. Ezechiello’s philosophy has been handed down the generations and remains the same today: pursuing always and solely quality, to make every Levoni product something unique.