Meet the Team: James

Meet James, one of our co-founders. Having always dreamt of setting up a charcuterie business, James made those dreams a reality following a pint with Andy (our other co-founder) at a local lawn mower racing competition (this is Somerset!) in 2014.

James is understandably super proud of everything the business has achieved in the past 8 years but for him, the most memorable moment has been winning a handful of awards for his favourite Somerset Charcuterie product, Cullatello. He recalls “in one year we won many awards from people and organisations we really respected. I’ll never forget that, at that moment, it felt like the company, our products and all our hard work had been validated by the people who were most qualified”.

As well as winning awards, the most satisfying thing about running a business for James is hearing what customers say about us, “it’s amazing that our customers are so passionate about our products and I take enormous pleasure from hearing about how people enjoy preparing, eating and selling our charcuterie” says James.

As a self-confessed born feeder, James’ favourite way to enjoy our charcuterie is by keeping it simple – “for me, there’s nothing better than opening a bottle of wine or cider, slicing a loaf of fresh sourdough bread from one of the many excellent local bakers, creating a spread of delicious local cheeses and adding a table full of friends!”

It’s not all fun and eating though, running a business, as a lot of people know, also brings its challenges. For James and Andy, growing the business at the right pace is probably the biggest. “We would love to get bigger faster but we have to take it slowly to ensure we don’t overstretch ourselves and our finances too far” James explains.

There’s definitely not a typical day for any business owner but some things are pretty consistent. For James, “the first thing I do when I wake up is (embarrassingly) look at my emails and calendar so I can plan my day. Once up, I take the dogs out, which is my favorite part of the day. We’re blessed living with the Mendip Hills immediately behind us and a reservoir immediately in front”. Then the variety really starts and James could find himself working on anything from finance and technical jobs to design, marketing, sales and general business activities, meaning there’s certainly never time to get bored which is something that James thrives on!