Growing a Charcuterie

Charcuterie is not just a delicious assembly of meats, and cheeses, it’s a craft. A craft North County Charcuterie in Columbus, Ohio understands well. With a passion for, and training in both sculpting and cooking, James Forbes was easily drawn to charcuterie boards. Together with his brother Duncan Forbes, and mother Jane Forbes, he created North County Charcuterie and became its head chef. In 2018 they hired their first non-family member Bill Theil. Together they call themselves the “Salami Squad.”

Playing on the theme of salami, each team member has a fun nick name based on their position.

James is the “Salami Swami.” Duncan, designated taste tester and manager is known as the “Salami Monger.” Jane, who brings her wealth of business knowledge to the table, is the “Salami Mama.” Bill, the meat scientist, is called the “Salami Doc.” The Salami Squad take great pride in sourcing everything from the pork, to the herbs and spices from Ohio. Everything is cured at their very own facility, and nearly everything is done by hand.

I reached out to Duncan to ask how Hollymatic has helped serve their business. He told me in the early days they used a small table top grinder with a .75 hp motor and a #12 plate. They mixed the ingredients by hand, and piped the salamis using a hand crank grinder with only a 25lb capacity. Using this method, they were able to make 100lb batches at a time. It got the job done, but as the business grew, and demand for sausages, and charcuterie boards became greater, so did the need for more manufacturing power.

We still want to stay true to our roots of handmade, but there are some areas where larger more efficient equipment could help.

Duncan says they knew they wanted a mixer/grinder with 200lbs or more capacity, but they didn’t have a machine in mind. Upon seeing the 900E Mixer/Grinder from Hollymatic, they knew it was the right size for their tight kitchen space, while still providing the power they needed.  “We are able to process more product in one 8-hour work day than we could before,” Duncan explains. “We have been able to produce more product to grow our sales and reach of our products. We’re now sold in 15 states.”

When asked what the future looks like for North County Charcuterie, Duncan had this to say, “In the next year we hope to double our production in order to meet customer demands, hire and train more quality staff and invest in more efficient equipment.  We still want to stay true to our roots of handmade, but there are some areas where larger more efficient equipment could help.”