The true start of Bolzano Artisan Meats was the childhoods of the husband-and-wife team of Scott Buer and Christin Johnstone-Buer. Growing up in foodie families who gardened, made sauerkraut, yogurt and beer gave them a unique perspective that they only really realized when they discovered each other and saw that none of their friends grew up in this kind of Old World food culture.

Being in Wisconsin, they were fans of the craft beers and homestead cheeses around them, and realized that nobody was doing the same great things with local pork. So in 2009, they founded Bolzano Artisan Meats, Wisconsin's first state-inspected maker of famously difficult-to-make dry cured meats. Since then, they have gained something of a cult following, being featured in the book "Primal Cuts: Cooking With America's Best Butchers" by Marissa Guggiana, and winning a Cooking Light Taste Test award in 2011.

Being as small as Bolzano Artisan Meats is means that if you are outside of Wisconsin, you can't find their handcrafted all-heirloom pork salamis in stores.  Think of this online store as a visit to Scott and Christin's little Farmers Market booth.