During 1775, the family of Gavrilović are mentioned as one of the founders of the butcher's guild, and at the beginning of the 19th century, they are referenced as the main supplier of Napoleon's army.

[2] The company itself was founded in 1821, being granted the concession for manufacture to supply the barracks of the Croatian Military Frontier, and its existing processes were expanded.

It operated as a family company under the name "Mate Gavrilović i drug", renamed in 1889 as "Prva hrvatska tvornica salame, sušena mesa i masti" with about 50 employees.

It was eventually incorporated as a limited liability company (d.o.o) during its modernization process in 1902 and began exporting its products to other countries such as Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, Palestine and Egypt.

[1] The company's trademark logo, depicting the three-year-old girl Jelica Cekuš (cousin of Đuro Gavrilović senior) holding a winter salami, was designed by Croatian comic book author and illustrator Andrija Maurović in 1931.