About Us

Chef and owner Bill Miner set out to create hand crafted artisanal salumi with time-tested old-world processes, so he planned and launched il porcellino salumi in 2015 out of the desire for his artisanal charcuterie to be made and sold in a retail store in Denver, CO.

Bill believes that the best products come from utilizing sustainably raised animals as part of the Global Animal Partnership Program and premium ingredients. He has worked extremely hard to build il porcellino salumi and its business ethos around his beliefs. The company has developed relationships with farmers, ranchers, and distributors that they trust. This dedication has created a line of award-winning products that il porcellino salumi is proud to stand behind.

Bill's upbringing planted the business's seeds before he even knew he'd be a chef. He grew up in small-town Ohio, eating fresh vegetables from his family's garden and visiting local farms and orchards. These experiences sparked his curiosity about how food is grown, raised, and consumed.

It didn't take long for Bill to find himself in a restaurant kitchen. He honed his skills at some of the most influential restaurants in Colorado and graduated at the top of his class from the Art Institute of Colorado's culinary program. Over his 20 years of cooking, Bill continued to push his knowledge as a chef and butcher. He became dedicated to his passion for cured meats and taught himself the craft of charcuterie. 

Recipes for Bresaola, Berkeley Ham, and Mortadella were some of the first developed. Family and friends, who were the initial test subjects, expressed strong words of encouragement. With this positive feedback, Bill wrote a business plan and secured finances. The plans were in place for il porcellino salumi to open as Denver's first retail salumeria, delicatessen, and whole animal butcher shop.

The small deli and salumeria received many early praises upon opening. Denver's Best New Deli, Top 10 New Restaurant, and Best New Sandwich shop were among the accolades. However, charcuterie remained the basis and focus of the business. Every sandwich and dish that was recognized featured the cured meats made in-house.

il porcellino salumi's whole animal butchery program allowed the company to showcase its charcuterie in a light that Denver had never seen before. In late 2015, they started dry curing salami with locally and sustainably raised heritage breed pigs processed in-house. By the spring of 2016, il porcellino salumi was selling salami at the Boulder County Farmers Markets. And boy, did it sell!! Demand grew immensely, and so did the reputation of il porcellino salumi for making artisanal charcuterie.

The company quickly gathered Good Food Awards and Charcuterie Masters Grand Champion status in 2018 & 2020. il porcellino salumi found itself as a leader in the industry, which has become the company's standard. It was now time to get the award-winning cured meat into the mouths of as many people as possible. But to do it, Bill needed to open a USDA Wholesale Processing Facility.

The idea of opening a USDA wholesale facility had always been part of the plan, and the opportunity arose in mid-2017 to take over a small USDA approved facility in the Roaring Fork Valley. The opportunity was clear, and the timing was right despite the facility being 3 hours from Denver. Bill brought in his old culinary school pal Nathan Taylor as his new business partner to help design and build out the facility in Basalt for il porcellino wholesale.

In April 2018, il porcellino salumi received its Grant of Inspection and took over space in the USDA wholesale facility. The space was small, but with the help of Nathan Taylor, il porcellino salumi rolled out its first product line of dry cured salami in the summer of 2018, sales exploded and suddenly il porcellino salumi products shipped around the country. Nate designed and built the expansion into the rest of the 10,00 square feet of production and drying space over the next few years and leads il porcellino salumi's business development!

In the summer of 2018, the company hired Phil House as the wholesale Operations Manager. Phil was a longtime Aspen chef and a gigantic fan of all things cured and fermented. He took the reins, streamlined the production process, and helped grow the product line. It became clear that the company needed more space, so they expanded in the facility by adding another, larger dry cure room, more fermentation rooms, shipping and packaging areas as the business continued to blossom. The additional space allowed il porcellino salumi to produce 2000 pounds of dry-cured salami each week. 

In 2020 it became clear that they still couldn't meet demand, so they bought the entire USDA wholesale facility. The build-out of the additional space has commenced, and in 2021 the business will be able to dramatically increase its production yet again. The last phase of build out of their small facility in Basalt was completed in mid 2023, and il porcellino salumi hopes to be able to meet the rising demand for their dry cured charcuterie in the Rocky Mountain Region and beyond!

As the company continues to grow, the core of the business model never changed. Bill and his team are focused on working with small, family farms that raise heritage breed animals sustainably and at the highest level of animal husbandry in the country. The production capacity has grown five times what it was just a year ago to meet the crazy demand for our handcrafted and artisanal charcuterie. The company has established itself on products that customers can trust, and that will never change.

In April of 2020, Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri featured the deli, and it continued to be recognized as the best sandwich shop and Salumeria in Denver through early 2024. At this point, Bill and his team decided to sell the deli in Denver to focus all of their energy and efforts on the growing wholesale manufacturing side of the business. Now, with the sales team being driven by their new VP of Sales, Justin Lisius, sales continue to grow rapidly around the country in new markets. With many new retailers and distributors bringing in some or all of our product line, il porcellino continues to grow its presence in new regions of the country.

Looking ahead into the future, Bill and the team hope to open a second much larger wholesale facility either in Basalt or in Denver. The company will continue to work with small family farms that focus on animal health and wellness. It takes beautiful animals raised sustainably to make our handcrafted, artisanal products. It also takes a team of professional employees who are genuinely vested in the company's vision. il porcellino salumi is blessed to have a fantastic team, excellent partnerships, and a dedicated customer base that we love.