In 1945 — after losing everything in World War II — a Croatian couple and their two children took refuge in Italy, where they began handcrafting and selling traditional sausages and hams to the locals.
The Genesis of Principe
Stevo and Carolina Dukcevich didn’t know it then, but they were well on their way to creating Principe di San Daniele, one of Italy’s most beloved brands of fresh and cooked meats. The star of all their products was prosciutto, a world-renowned Italian delicacy known for its natural simplicity and unmatched taste. For years, Italians enjoyed Principe’s salt-cured legs in thin savory slices.
Some 50 years later, American palates had started to whet for the time-honored delicacies Italians had known for years. And so, the Dukcevich family rose to the occasion when Theo Weening and Cathy Strange, two passionate Whole Foods Market buyers who saw a delicious opportunity for Whole Foods Market shoppers, began discussing the possibility of bringing traditional Italian prosciutto exclusively to our stores.
Bringing Prosciutto to Whole Foods Market
Doing so would have been easy, were it not for Whole Foods Market’s quality standards opens in a new tab: Our meat comes from animals raised with no antibiotics, ever. For prosciutto, that was no small challenge: Antibiotic treatment from birth was the norm for pigs, and there was no method of tracking which farms the meat was coming from once sold.
But because Whole Foods Market wanted customers to have the experience of classic Italian prosciutto, they took the time to do so, spending seven years partnering opens in a new tab with Principe di San Daniele to source (and bring to market) the first and only Italian prosciutto from pigs raised with no antibiotics, ever, now exclusively sold in Whole Foods Market stores.
In this way, the time-honored traditions of Italian prosciutto can remain intact, while simultaneously keeping transparency top of mind, always.
And that prosciutto so beloved by Italians — and now Americans, too? It’s as mouthwateringly delicious as ever.
Looking for the perfect party appetizer? Find Principe products in all Whole Foods Market stores opens in a new tab in the U.S.
