Ten years after Agricola applied for export accreditation to the US, a review of that application will allow the company to export Sibiu salami to the US. Agricola is the second Sibiu salami producer to be approved by the US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), after Cris-Tim also received American approval last year.

“It wasn’t until September 2021 that we received an official visit from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Food Safety and Inspection Service, where we “passed” the last step typical of processors. We have fully complied with all the conditions set forth for obtaining the US export certification, along with the corresponding efforts and costs,” says Angelica Schmil, CEO of Salbac SA.

Agricola is one of the largest producers of chicken meat in Romania and the main exporter in this category. The company owns 18% of the chicken meat market, it is the leader with 9% of the semi-finished and ready meals market, and Salamul de Sibiu Agricola is the leader in the overall segment of Sibiu salami sold in Romania with 42%. % market share, average, in value (Nielsen).

The Cris-Tim Group was accredited to export PGI Sibiu salami to the United States market in May 2023, also following a Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) audit conducted in Romania. In order to reopen the American market for meat and meat products from our country, the technical team of Cris-Tim Group has been in constant contact with ANSVSA, FSIS and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA – APHIS), sent company representatives

Currently, Sibiu salami is produced by several companies

Currently, Sibiu salami is produced by several companies. In 2016, several factories received a European certificate that gives them the right to exclusivity in the Sibiu salami market, so they asked other non-certified producers to withdraw their sausages with the same name. These are Agricola Bacău, Aldis, Reinert, Salsi and Scandia.

There is a salami on the American market with a recipe similar to Sibiu, the price of a stick ranges from $23-$30.

In September 2021, representatives of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) arrived in Romania to discuss with Romanian officials (from ANSVSA) the resumption of exports of meat products in hermetically sealed containers (cans) and the start of exports of raw and dried salami from Romania in the USA.

A few months later, in July 2022, a technical meeting was held at the headquarters of the National Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) with representatives of the Sibiu salami production units. As we said above, validation was obtained in 2023 for the export of Sibiu salami by Cris-Tim, and this year for Agricola Bacău

The history of Sibiu salami

The history of the famous product begins at the end of the 19th century, when dry salami began to be produced in the heart of the Carpathians under the name “winter salami”, later “Sibiu customs salami” and, finally, “Sibiu salami”. This new product manages to attract the attention of the people of the area as well as from abroad, and in a short time it becomes a benchmark for all.

The main producers of Salami de Sibiu in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were Joseph Theil and Filippo Dozzi. The two sausage producers turned Sibiu salami into a luxury product that was not missing from the most luxurious dishes.

The goods were accompanied by export documents with a customs visa of Sibiu (the place through which transit to the territory of Austria-Hungary was carried out), and therefore it began to be called by collaborators abroad, for this reason, as “Salaam from the Customs of Sibiu”. Later, after consolidating export relations through this point, these external partners began to refer to the range in the inquiries they sent to businesses in Sinai and Mediasha as “Salaam from Sibiu”.

In 1948, all de Sibiu salami factories were nationalized and transferred to state ownership, 3 (three) new factories were opened during the communist regime in Mediaş, Bacău and Bihor. Immediately after the fall of the regime, other production units were opened in Calarasi and Brasov-Feldioara).

Since the 1950s, exports of Sibiu salami have grown rapidly, responding to a steady increase in demand from countries such as the United States, Austria, the Federal Republic of Germany, Czechoslovakia, Israel, Belgium, Sweden, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

However, exports continued even after the fall of the communist regime. For example, before the restoration of production capacity for the Romanian market in 1996, the former Salconserv factory exported exclusively to countries such as the USA, Great Britain, Germany, the former Soviet Union and Japan (Source)

Photo source: DreamsTime / Ioana Grecu