Salcis
Salcis, a century-long story of meat.
A disagreement with his boss in 1923 was the spark. Having a high school diploma in accounting and a stable job at a bank, about a century ago, was an unimaginable privilege for any Italian. At twenty-two, Armando Morbidi had very clear ideas. He resigned without much regret, and with some savings, he bought a dairy and cheese shop in Siena from an elderly gentleman. Thus began a century-long adventure, through two world wars and three generations. The family thread has never been broken, surviving intact to this day. Reinforced.
In Monteriggioni, at number 33 of the provincial road, there’s a line to get food. Pancetta, a burger, a piece of pecorino. People queue up. On a summer Thursday. For local workers and office employees, it’s the go-to lunch spot. But tourists too. We share the outdoor table with some Danish visitors touring Tuscany. A kind of pilgrimage site for food lovers. A simple place, rich in aromas and steeped in a culture that permeates every product and detail. Antonio and Alessandra welcome me. There’s a barrier between us—but only at the beginning. Their culture comes through as kindness and humility, filling that company room, which feels more like the lounge of a London creative agency. My questions are met with verbal silence, but a world of stories ready to be shared. A century’s worth—and above all, dreams for the future to be grounded.
Antonio holds a degree in economics, and Alessandra is a lawyer. Education and culture have been the backbone of all three generations. To thrive over a hundred years, the Morbidi family has always asked their children to achieve academic goals like a university degree before joining the business. Many instinctive, courageous decisions have always been supported by strict business discipline and attention to every potential risk. The manual of good management has left space, however, for wisdom, humility, and a real ability to listen to collaborators. So much so that several new products were born from the foresight of some employees. “We’re a very close family. Twelve million in turnover in 2022 and still growing. Revenue never made us lose touch with reality. For us entrepreneurs and our 55 employees, work is a daily family challenge to achieve good results,” Alessandra says proudly. “And we love our land. In a place like Siena, dominated by trade and tourism, we have many young people in love with their craft.”
If culture is the trunk of the family, “differentiation” has been—and still is—Salcis’ strategic weapon. It was Armando, just a few years after acquiring the shop in the early 1930s, who had the intuition to expand the offering with products unusual for the time—like tuna, olives, and jams. It was a success. Within a decade, he would open two more highly successful shops in central Siena.
From success to the great drama of war. The countless difficulties of World War II led to another major turning point in the company’s history. Due to meat rationing, Armando proposed that other Sienese butchers join forces in a kind of consortium. Thus, the S.A.L.C.I.S. was founded—the Anonymous Society for Meat Processing and Sausages in Siena—which initially brought together about twenty butchers who pooled their expertise to produce cured meats to be sold in their shops or to third parties. Meeting Alessandro and Alessandra, you still feel that spirit of cooperation with the land and its people—strong even after eighty years. “Our team feels part of an organization that’s low on hierarchy but highly stimulating for anyone who wants to contribute their ideas and experience.”
Listening to input from the region, in 1960 the company made another important turn. Alessandro, once he earned his degree, started managing the processing of sheep’s milk from Sardinian shepherds who had begun migrating to Tuscany. Alessandra’s eyes light up with joy as she tells us about that epochal moment for the company. “It was a truly brilliant intuition by my father. Not only did we get to work with the Sardinian shepherds and learn how to produce pecorino, but we were finally able to produce continuously. Twelve months a year.”
By following the seasonality of the raw material, the company could make cured meats in the fall and winter, and sheep cheese in spring and summer. The success was so great that Salcis’ new symbol became a stylized sheep and pig—clearly representing this new production balance. In 1990 came the second generational (and dimensional) shift, as Alessandro’s children—Patrizia, Antonio, and Alessandra—joined the company. They are the third generation of the Morbidi family now leading SALCIS Siena, and “Morbidi Siena” is the brand that identifies their only store in the city center. Many careful steps have been taken toward internationalization, always with ears wide open to the team’s suggestions. Their foresight has also paid off in marketing and external communication abroad. And it’s precisely over lunch at their shop that one can witness firsthand the results of a brand becoming synonymous with excellence.
Foreign tourists at the table talk about “Monna Lisa” pecorino, the “truffle-marbled” one, the finocchiona, or the “Wild Boar Mortadella.” You hear them fluently naming Salcis products—from pecorino to cinta senese—as if reciting the monuments of Siena itself. Alessandra, with a humility that’s both gentle and disarming, almost casually tells me about the creation of the company’s own sheep farm in 2015, in the beautiful Fogliano area just outside Siena.
To gain full control of the milk production chain, the family decided to also become, in part, breeders. A model facility in terms of technology, built with natural materials and focused on animal welfare. Uncompromising quality and a commitment to preserving the Italian cheesemaking tradition are the company’s guiding principles. It’s a cultural humus that’s already positively influencing the fourth Morbidi generation, which is slowly getting closer to the business. People in love with their land, living each day through the smiles of workers and tourists who can appreciate the rediscovery of rare, ancient flavors—brought back to life by Salcis.