1933
Luigi D’Orsogna’s sons, Cesare and Tommaso (Tom), left their hometown in Italy to join their father in Western Australia.
At 15 years of age, Tom started in the smallgoods manufacturing factory adjacent to the Wiluna Meat Supply’s Butcher Shop, where he spent four years making Australian style sausages, frankfurts, polony, corned beef, pickled pork and dripping.
1938-47
Giovanni (John), another brother of Cesare and Tom, arrived in Fremantle to meet his father, Luigi D’Orsogna, in Wiluna. In 1944,
all three brothers headed in separate career directions of their own.
In 1947, Tom started working at a continental smallgoods manufacturer in North Melbourne.
1949-50s
The Original Butcher Shop
After two productive years of learning enough about continental and Italian-style smallgoods in Melbourne, Tom returned to Perth and opened his own smallgoods business, T. D’Orsogna Family Butcher, in Stone Street, West Perth, in March 1949. The same year, John joined in partnership with Tom, followed by Cesare becoming a partner in 1951. They agreed to change the name of the business to D’Orsogna Brothers Pty Ltd.
1960s
The business proliferated with increased sales throughout Perth’s metropolitan area and via new regional distribution networks. D’Orsogna developed new ranges of pre-packed products to satisfy consumer demand.
1973
Business Growth
D’Orsogna Smallgoods moved from West Perth to the corner of Leach Highway and Stock Road, Palmyra, opening the then state-of-the-art premises in 1973. D’Orsogna quickly became a leading smallgoods manufacturer with its products sold in Woolworths Australia-wide.
1993
Quality ingredients, family recipes and innovation, have always been cornerstones of the business. These values are embraced by the second generation of the D’Orsogna family. They place particular attention on tradition and innovation in craft meats and reducing D’Orsogna’s environmental impact.
2019
New Victorian Factory
Year-on-year national sales growth saw the Palmyra factory reach capacity. Thus, a state-of-the-art facility at the Merrifield Business Park, Mickleham opened featuring 8,500m2 of rooftop solar to reduce its carbon footprint. The facility has doubled the production volume and creates innovative varieties of cured and cooked hams, bacon, gourmet continental sausages and salami and other meat products using the same authentic family recipes.