Meat+Poultry - October 2020 - 79

Coro by Salumi puts a modern design and flavor
twist on an iconic artisan charcuterie brand
BY K I M B E R L I E C LYM A | kc l y m a @ s o s l a n d.c o m

Photos: ©Carson Artac Photography

J

ust as a great chorus blends together a
group of voices to produce a brilliant,
melodic sound, great salumi blends quality
meats and specialty ingredients to create a
flavorful, satisfying product. With that end goal
in mind, Martinique Grigg and Clara Veniard
took the long-time Seattle iconic brand Salumi
and redeveloped it into the new charcuterie
brand, Coro. With a deli still operating in
downtown Seattle, and a new charcuterie
production facility operating a few miles away
in Kent, Wash., Salumi Artisan Cured Meats
LLC (doing business now as Coro Foods) is
offering customers a "chorus" of charcuterie
flavors mixing Old World techniques with
modern seasonings and flavor combinations.
"We chose to rename the brand Coro,
because it's the Italian word for chorus,"
Grigg said. "It really reflects our mission and
what we're trying to do with our products.
It's not just the chorus of unique flavors that
we offer, that are really different from other
salamis out there, but also it's this idea of a
chorus of people, contributing to this art form,
over time."
Many meat-eating residents of Seattle
are probably already familiar with the
Salumi name - it's been a Seattle institution
for more than 20 years. The cured meat
producer and deli sandwich shop was opened
in the Pioneer Square neighborhood by
Armandino Batali (father of renowned chef,
Mario Batali) following his retirement from
Boeing. With diners often lined up down the
street, the sandwich shop created a loyal
following of customers anxious to take home
one of its signature meatball, porchetta or
salami sandwiches - all made in-house with
charcuterie handmade in the back of the shop
since the day the deli opened its doors.
"The Batalis developed a proprietary
method for salumi making," Grigg said. "They
took Old World techniques of making salumi
and infused new world flavors."
After building the business and its wellknown reputation in and beyond Seattle,

Armandino passed the reins to his daughter
Gina and her husband, Brian D'Amato. The
two, still under Armandino's watchful eye,
continued with the philosophy that great
salumi - like the flavors it features - needs to
develop and evolve over time.
"There are some salami and salumi
producers that are really into following that
Old World tradition, but the Batalis have
always had the philosophy that salumi is
actually an evolving tradition," Grigg said.
"Part of the fun is actually seeing how you
can evolve flavors to follow what the modern
palate wants."
It was this philosophy, combined with their
love of food and an entrepreneurial spirit,
that brought Grigg and Veniard to the Batalis
doorstep in search of a new business venture.
"Five years ago, we had this crazy idea of
looking for a business that we were passionate
about and buying it and running it together.
We spent around a year looking for the right
opportunity," Grigg said "We're both passionate
about food."
Veniard's family was in the food business,
as the owner of a large confection company.
Earlier in her career, she apprenticed with
James Beard Award winner Joan Nathan and
worked in fine dining. Her other passions
included international affairs and business,
which led her to time served in the Peace Corps,
work in international finance at The Gates
Foundation and four years working for Amazon.
Grigg was chief executive officer
of the non-profit outdoor organization,
The Mountaineers.
Although the two both attended Dartmouth
College at the same time, they never met until
a ski trip years later. A friendship and business
partnership developed soon after. They formed
Grant Peak Capital in April 2016 and started
looking for Seattle businesses to invest in.
"We were looking in the area and were
introduced to the Batalis. Gina was looking to
retire, so it was the perfect opportunity for us,"
Grigg said.

After buying Salumi
Artisan Cured Meats LLC,
co-owners Martinique
Grigg and Clara Veniard
moved the company's
processing operations to
a new facility, which was
five times larger than the
space the company was
working from before.

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