Felicetti Speck

In Moena, for more than seventy years, the Felicetti family has carried on an art shaped by time, craftsmanship and the scents of the mountains.

Some stories begin with a grand vision; others grow from a small village shop. The story of the Felicetti family belongs to the second kind. We are in Moena, in the heart of Val di Fassa, where it all began in the 1940s, when grandfather Carlo Felicetti took over a butcher’s shop with a small workshop for processing meat. It was a modest place, but within those walls lay the beginning of a story that would be passed down from one generation to the next.

Over time, his children joined the family business: Nino, Franco, Aldo, Rita and Loretta. Each contributed to its growth, helping transform the small shop into an increasingly established production business. Nino, Franco and Aldo focused on butchery and the meat trade, while Rita and Loretta looked after the retail side. The business grew, but its bond with Moena remained unchanged.

Then came the 1990s and a new chapter. Aldo renovated and expanded the production facility, introducing dedicated departments and equipment for making speck and traditional Trentino cured meats. It was a step towards the future, while remaining firmly rooted in everything that had come before: family recipes, skills learned from their parents and a knowledge of meat built up over years of hands-on experience.

This is where the identity of Felicetti Speck took shape. Technology has helped the business grow, but many stages of production are still carried out by hand: from trimming the meat to dry curing and carefully massaging the pork legs. This artisanal approach remains possible thanks to the limited production volumes and, above all, to the direct involvement of the people behind every stage of the process.

And then there are the mountains.

Felicetti speck begins with carefully selected meat and a blend of natural spices, including bay leaf, juniper, pepper, garlic and salt. The pork legs are salted and massaged by hand, then smoked with beech wood and left to mature at an altitude of 1,200 metres, where the fresh Dolomite air slowly accompanies the ageing process. It is this meeting between craftsmanship and the mountain environment that gives the speck its distinctive character: fragrant and aromatic, with a delicate smoky note that makes it instantly recognisable.

But the Felicetti family makes more than just speck. At the Moena production facility, they also create pancetta, cured meats, wurstel, luganega Trentina, game salami and other specialities, all guided by the same philosophy: bringing authentic flavours to the table while allowing a long-standing tradition to evolve without losing sight of its roots.

To discover this world for yourself, stop by the Felicetti shop, right next to the production facility. It is a little corner of flavour where the relationship between producer and customer becomes tangible. Alongside the family’s own cured meats, you will find a selection of local products, from regional cheeses and Puzzone di Moena DOP to honey, preserves, mostarda, polenta and mushrooms.

There is another place that perfectly captures the continuity of the Felicetti story: the historic butcher’s shop in the centre of Moena, still owned by the family today. Opened in the 1940s and remaining in its original location, it has been recognised as one of Trentino’s Historic Shops. Stepping inside means returning to the atmosphere of the village shop where it all began, when Carlo Felicetti first started building this story of flavour together with his family.

Perhaps this is the real secret of the Felicetti family: they have managed to grow without ever moving away from home. Today, the production facility looks to the future and its products are distributed throughout Northern Italy, but the heart of the story is still here in Moena, where everything began.

Because behind a slice of Felicetti speck there is more than a recipe. There are Carlo, Nino, Franco, Aldo, Rita and Loretta. There are generations of a family, hands that have learned a craft, and a mountain that has always accompanied the slow art of ageing.

And perhaps that is what makes a family product truly special: time passes, people change, but some traditions can still be recognised by the same familiar aroma.