Salama Poli’s father: “At the time, we didn’t even think what we managed to create”

This year marks 50 years since Perutnina Ptuj sent poultry products to the market as the fruit of its own knowledge. Among the most famous is Poli salami, which in terms of recognition can compete with, for example, the Carniola sausage and is also the first chicken sausage in Europe. The recipe for the Pipi, Koko, Special, Poetovia and Poli poultry salamis, which were the first in the world to be produced at the time, was designed by him and his team Cyril Varga from Dobrovnik, who was the chief technologist at Perutnina Ptuj.

The basic idea of ​​introducing poultry meat products, which would enrich the sale of whole chickens, dates back to 1973, when a poultry slaughterhouse was renovated in Ptuj and a new meat processing plant was built. »The director at the time Ivo Tomažič he presented me with the idea of ​​increasing the range and sale of poultry meat, including the production of salami from lower-quality chicken parts. In the case of large productions, there was a lot of unsold goods that had to be converted into something and given a new value. In 1974, we started processing meat at a new location next to the poultry slaughterhouse, where the equipment was completely new and at the same time unknown to the staff employed at the time.” recalls Varga.

Many attempts

Cuts of chicken such as the neck, back and tail, which were not selling well, had to be made into something. “It was difficult, because we had to do a lot of experiments so that in the end we were all happy with the final product.” Here, taste and appearance prevailed, the products had to be similar to pork and beef products.

Even before the first experiments, they had to prescribe the parameters of the quality of raw materials, spices, additives, artificial and natural wrappers and additives, determine the technological process of production and the method of control, and define the quality of the finished products. “The basic problem was how to combine all the ingredients into a suitable and marketable product, so we conducted experiments with bacon, tallow and butter among the fats. It was good that we had the support of the director at the time and individual managers, but there were also individuals who threw logs at our feet, both within the company and among competitors, when it became clear what we were doing,” explains Salama Poli’s father .

Thanks to the expertise, knowledge and will of Varga, who is a veterinarian and has been involved in the processing and development of meat products all his life, he also has a doctorate in this field from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Zagreb, and with the drive of his entire team, the already mentioned poultry salami was created. Experts from the Belgrade Meat Institute and other technologists from the federal level also participated in the preparation of new products, with whom they cooperated perfectly.

A solution in a chain store

Once the product was made, it had to be brought to the market, which was not easy, as the entire meat industry was opposed to this innovation at first, and poultry products were still prohibited by law at the time. When the legislators were only convinced, another problem arose – to convince customers who did not want to buy Poli salami due to their lack of familiarity. This is how the so-called bonded trade was established. Since there was less chicken meat in the past, when buying meat, customers had to take a certain amount of salami at a better price, which was the key to success. “At that time, we didn’t even think what we managed to create and what a success Poli salami would be on the market.”

Today, 86-year-old Varga, who lives in Maribor, performed quality control at Perutnina Ptuj, which means that he had to test all salamis daily. “I had to be sure of their quality, otherwise I would have to pay ten percent of the fine, if the company got it, out of my own pocket. Now imagine what it’s like if you have to try I don’t know how many types of sausage every day. Eventually it gets over your head, in the end it even got to the point where I had to lose weight. Today, I no longer eat salami Poli due to health problems, but I would definitely recommend anyone who hasn’t tried it to do so. Although I would advise him to try other salamis made from poultry meat, and at the same time to compare the quality and price.”

Varga is happy that the product created by Slovenians is known almost all over the world, even though the sausage, which was the first of its kind in the world, did not bring him fame or fortune at the time. “Today, the results of our development work benefit all producers of poultry meat, which is gaining an ever-increasing role in the human diet,” Varga said at the end of the conversation and once again emphasized the role of his team in the development of the most famous poultry product.