Celebrating nearly 60 years in business, Borgo Salumi continues to combine traditional artisan methods with modern innovation to produce premium smallgoods in Queensland.
Why “salumi”, not “salami”? Joining Food and Beverage Industry News, managing director at Borgo Salumi Luigi Borgo answered a question often asked by peers. He explained that “salumi” is the Italian word for “smallgoods”.
“A salami, ham, pancetta and mortadella are examples of a salumi,” he said.
Covering a range of smallgoods products, Borgo Salumi is Queensland’s “oldest” Italian-style smallgoods manufacturer. While its name “Borgo Salumi” reflects Italian roots, the company started life as Borgo Smallgoods Co.
Dating back to 1958, Borgo’s parents, Ivo and Antonietta, set up shop in Melbourne. Using techniques passed down through generations and a passion to deliver authentic Italian salami. Word spread around the Melbourne streets about its high-quality salami, resulting in a partnership with Lago Butchers, to form Lago Smallgoods Company.
During a summer holiday trip to Surfers Paradise, Borgo said that his parents enjoyed the weather so much they decided they wanted to move to Queensland. They could see the European migrant population begin to spill into Brisbane and North Queensland. Ending the partnership with Lago in 1965, they decided to open an Italian style smallgoods manufacturing plant in Queensland in 1966.
Borgo said that this move brought the business back to the start. When they left Melbourne, the business was leaving behind years of hard work with an employee count from 30 back down to two – Borgo’s parents. While this posed challenges in starting from the ground up again, the business gradually grew.
Nearly 60 years later, Borgo Salumi now employs around 30 people and manages two adjoining facilities spanning 2,000 square metres under one roof. Next year, the company will celebrate its 60th anniversary, a milestone underscoring its resilience and commitment to its craft.
Bringing the old with the new
There are few food businesses in Australia that can boast a family legacy spanning six decades while still retaining the craftsmanship of their earliest days. Borgo expressed a strong commitment to never cutting corners because of his pride in delivering quality smallgoods products made with traditional Italian techniques. However, he clarifies that the business is not shy of adopting modern technologies.
So, what does the traditional method of salami-making look like?
“We cut the meat up, add salt, spices and ingredients, and fill it into natural intestine casings. We tie it by hand, hang it and then dry it,” Borgo said.
While this description simplifies the process, the amount of manual labour that goes into mincing, mixing and tying, is time consuming. Describing the business as an “SME”, Borgo said that its commitment to manufacturing by hand is its “point of difference”, to deliver premium smallgoods products compared to larger manufacturers.
For example, Borgo Salumi remains one of the few Australian manufacturers that works directly from whole carcasses rather than pre-deboned meat. Skilled butchers break down the carcasses, separating lean and fat components with precision before the meat is minced and mixed. This approach ensures consistent ratios of fat and lean meat in each batch, something Borgo believes larger manufacturers often overlook.
The process that it follows differs, as Borgo explained that each nationality has its own way to manufacture smallgoods.
“The Italian and the French use a mincer-mixer configuration in the way they make their salami,” he said. “Germans use a bowl cutter to cut the meat up and also mix the ingredients.”
For Borgo Salumi, it prioritises the consistency with a “coarser cut”, which can be difficult to achieve with a bowl cutter. Therefore, the meat is put into a mincer where the meat will be cut up identically to the size of the plate hole of the machine. From here, the minced meat enters the mixer to blend the lean meat and fat along with other spices and ingredients. This provides a more homogenised and evenly distributed meat mixture, crucial for consistent product delivery.
The next step is to put the meat mixture into a vacuum filler machine to remove air, creating a denser, more uniform product. It also is an important step to evenly portion the amount of meat that goes into each casing. Once the casings are hand-tied, they are trolleyed into primary fermentation rooms that are temperature controlled to carefully nurture the products through this stage.
While the company’s operations are rooted in tradition to achieve the right texture, flavour and stability, it explores technology to ensure efficiency and sustainability.
Human touch at every stage
In most food and beverage businesses, especially in meat manufacturing, temperature regulation is often a hurdle to maintain fresher and quality products. For Borgo Salumi, the business started its operations with single heat sources that could only be manually adjusted.
These days, process control units (PCUs) have modernised the regulation of temperature and humidity. The business still practices daily manual checks for the fermentation process, as each batch of meat has slight variants. The variants are caused by factors such as animal diet or water content, making it essential to apply human judgement.
While larger producers often rely on preset programmes, Borgo Salumi maintains a hands-on approach to ensure consistent quality. This means that it accesses and regulates temperature and humidity settings on the spot. With modern technology such as PCUs, the company can ensure correct climatic conditions.
Synthetic casings
Borgo’s philosophy is simple – technology is an aid, not a substitute, and human oversight remains at the heart of the craft. This philosophy extends to casings.
Previously before processing equipment and machines entered the business, clipping, tying and natural casings were all done by hand. Part of the reason for the choice of manual handling is due to the difficulty to mechanise or automate natural items unless it is uniform in its structure.
Natural casings come from intestines of animals that come in various sizes. Because of this, the diameter of each casing can vary by a few millimetres, which Borgo described as a factor that makes automating processes difficult.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the businesses who produced these natural casings had more resources to manage the workload by hand. This shifted and many manufacturers who were producing natural casings struggled to find staff after the lockdown, which served as a hurdle in getting a hold of a supply of natural casings in Australia. While the business still aims to produce products using natural casings, Borgo highlighted that the business quickly adapted to introduce some synthetic casings to handle the amount of smallgoods they produce.
“Our point of difference is putting human touch to every stage of the process,” said Borgo. “We use modern technology to help us regulate the processes rather than take over the whole process.”
Challenge of replacing plastic
Sustainability has become a central issue for food manufacturers, particularly in relation to packaging. For Borgo Salumi, cardboard recycling is straightforward, but plastic packaging presents greater challenges, describing plastic as unavoidable. While there has been progress in vacuum packaging, Borgo noted that many of the options currently available remain only partially recyclable and cannot fully preserve a product’s freshness or shelf life.
As he weighed the complications of adopting packaging that is only partially recyclable, Borgo addressed another problem – food waste.
“Adopting a partially recyclable solution may save a small amount of plastic, but it cannot be compared to the amount of food that you’re throwing away because it hasn’t maintained shelf life,” said Borgo.
He described the search for recyclable packaging as a waiting game. Borgo is hopeful of the efforts being made by the packaging industry. Until the right solution comes, Borgo Salumi continues to trial options and work closely with suppliers, while ensuring food safety and quality remain uncompromised.
Food safety is a benefit, not a hindrance
When it comes to food safety audits and regulations, Borgo welcomes it, viewing it as a collaborative effort that helps maintain trust with consumers and regulators alike. Food safety underpins every step of the company’s production process. Routine pre- and post-production swabs, product testing, and regular audits are central to operations.
With a good reputation within the health department, Borgo Salumi accepts the regulations as assistance to maintain the integrity of its products.
Winning platinum
Expanding over the years into a sizeable business with a 2,000 square metre facility, the company was recognised internationally at the 2025 IFFA competition in Germany, a smallgoods fair. Borgo Salumi achieved multiple medals including three platinum awards, which Borgo described it as a testament not only to its products but also to the dedication of its team.
Central to Borgo Salumi’s success at the event is its workplace culture. Since 2017, the company has implemented a documented set of values that emphasise care, passion, pride, integrity, respect and quality. By formalising expectations and encouraging accountability at all levels, including Borgo himself, the business has created an environment where employees feel valued and aligned.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary next year, the company continues to balance tradition with innovation. Future plans include expanding into new product lines such as salami bites, a preservative-free, free-range snack designed to appeal to younger consumers and families seeking protein-rich lunchbox options.
The recognition at the 2025 IFFA competition was as much about the employees as the brand, reflecting the collective effort that goes into every product. Borgo Salumi focuses on maintaining product integrity and strengthening its legacy. While honouring family traditions, the company is committed to utilising modern technology to aid its processes while keeping the human touch that keeps the Italian delicacies and traditions alive.
“We’re not sales-driven, we are product-driven,” said Borgo. “Our goal is to make the best salumi we can. It is not a new goal or an old goal. It is a continuous goal.”