Aoste

Aoste is a French maker of dry-cured ham and saucisson sec, named after the Isère village where it started in 1976. The brand sits in the Sigma Alimentos portfolio and is run in France through Groupe Aoste, seated at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Its core business is raw ham sold sliced in trays.

Roger Reybier founded it after discovering Parma ham. The producer's timeline gives 1986 for the first pre-sliced raw ham in supermarkets, Les Grandes Tranches, and 2009 for the extension to Bayonne and Serrano origins, superior saucissons and Viande des Grisons. Dried beef, Noix de Boeuf séchée, followed in 2012. Since 2019 the hams carry no preservatives, only ham and sea salt, except in the reduced-salt range.

Range: jambon cru, Serrano, speck, coppa, Viande des Grisons, lomo, chorizo, Fuet Ibérique and saucissons secs such as La Rosette and Apérisec. Other named lines are Les Fines et Fondantes, Les Chiffonnades and Les Dentelles. Cooked ham (Jambon Rôti, Le Charcutier) is a different product group. The producer pages give no PDO or PGI for these products.

Justin Bridou, a sister brand in the same group, concentrates on dry-sausage sticks, while Aoste is the ham side. Unlike Labeyrie or Delpeyrat, which start from foie gras, it starts from sliced raw pork.

On the pack look for the name Aoste and, since 2019, the wording «sans conservateur». Forms include trays of 4, 6 or 10 slices, the quarter-sliced piece, chiffonnade ribbons and whole saucissons at the delicatessen counter. In French supermarkets it sits in the chilled self-service section.