When Dhruv Baker, a former MasterChef winner, founded his British charcuterie company nine years ago, he focused on selling it at a small number of premium retailers such as Harrods and Fortnum & Mason.
The market for British-made charcuterie has historically been constrained, he said, with most producers struggling to supply at scale. “We have always known that to fulfil the potential of British charcuterie, we really must be able to supply into the mainstream market reliably,” he said.
Now, that time has come. Baker is among a number of producers who are meeting a growing demand for meats reared and cured on British soil. He has merged his brand Rare & Pasture with another company he founded to create The Curing Barn, and is now stocked in Tesco at 230 locations. “As the first campaign of this scale in the UK for a British producer, we very much hope that this acts as a catalyst to growing the industry,” he said.
There are now more than 200 registered cured meat producers in the UK. Waitrose is the only supermarket other than Tesco stocking British charcuterie, having introduced salami from a brand called The Real Cure in April. A spokesperson said Waitrose had been quick to jump on the emerging trend because their customers “love backing British”. The product is “offering something different and is already proving popular,” they said. “There’s no reason to think that British charcuterie won’t continue to grow in popularity, in a similar way to how we’ve seen a boom in English sparkling wine.”
British producers have entered a challenging market, dominated by the renowned credentials of cured meats from France, Italy and Spain. Their strength, however, lies in the flavour of British pork, which is “typically higher quality than that used in imported product,” Baker said, giving “an enhanced richness”.
Brexit may have even played a helping hand. “I think we are seeing fewer smaller continental artisan products in the UK post-Brexit, largely due to the increased cost and time involved with exporting alongside much stricter controls,” Baker said. While this has meant less choice for British consumers, as only larger European producers are able to absorb these additional costs, it also poses an opportunity for British producers, who are unburdened by the extra paperwork.
Andrew Shreeve, head of sales at Cobble Lane Cured in London, said: “We have seen a strong increase in demand for the British charcuterie market since Covid and also Brexit, which has enabled us to open a second and much larger production site in 2023, and we are already looking at a third site.”
Will Murgatroyd, who started Curing Rebels with fellow chef Rich Judd in Brighton, said that while there’s a clear increase in charcuterie producers, “it’s hard to quantify if this is a direct link to Brexit or because of the economy in general and the pivoting of business”.
For Curing Rebels, the key is to be inspired by European styles without being limited by them. This means a softer texture in their saucisson, and curing their coppa with spent coffee grounds. Free from the constraints imposed on producers of meats with protected designations, such as Parma ham, they are also able to innovate, such as with their Goan Beer Stick. “We have taken the British love of curry and added it to a snacking salami,” Murgatroyd said. “It’s one of our most popular products.”
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As more producers enter the market, pricing is also more competitive. “The price-point of British charcuterie has been a factor in holding it back as an industry,” Baker said. With significant investment in facilities, the company has introduced efficiencies to its production model, while maintaining artisan quality. “This means we are able to live with lower margins,” he added. “With the higher animal welfare and relatively lower production, British charcuterie is still comparatively more expensive than much of the imported produce but no longer prohibitively so.” A packet of his charcuterie board meats, which includes fennel salami, smoked coppa, and spiced loin, costs £4.50 at Tesco.
For some, breaking from European terminology is crucial to creating a booming British industry. Isaac McHale, chef-owner of The Clove Club, a two Michelin-starred restaurant that has been producing its own charcuterie since it opened in 2013, said adopting European names hinders the product’s culinary identity. “Maybe we need British names for those things, whatever those names might be.”
Baker hopes that, after competing against imports here, British producers can start exporting to take on European charcuterie in its own back yard. “We have seen this happen with sparkling wine and cheese and I see no reason why we cannot export our products internationally,” he said.
