Charcuterie back on the menu as artisan smallgoods producers go large

September 5, 2022

Charcuterie maker Mick Nunn, of Salt Kitchen, surrounded by his products. Scott Kittlety

Concerns over health risks associated with the ancient traditions of preserving meat have threatened the future of the $4 billion-a-year smallgoods industry in recent years. New artisan smallgoods manufacturers, however, have helped lead a revival in salami, prosciutto and chorizo production.

"We have been battling strong negative sentiment against what are traditional products," says Franz Knoll, chair of the Australian Meat Industry Council's National Smallgoods Council.

Consumers are concerned about the fat, salt and preservatives in products made since Roman times. But while the overall figures for smallgoods consumption have fallen 0.3 per cent annually since 2017, artisan charcuterie sales are booming.

Ralf Finke, owner of Oakwood Smallgoods in Castlemaine.Richard Cornish

"Our production has grown over 1000 per cent in the past decade or so," says Rogelio Rodriguez of Rodriguez Bros, a family company that makes traditional Spanish-style smallgoods in Chester Hill in Sydney's west.

"People no longer just want a cheap product just to fill their belly," he says. "They want quality. They want the story of a dirt-poor family who came from Extremadura (Spain) to start a business 50 years ago to make traditional smallgoods."

On Wednesday night they won six gold medals at the inaugural AMIC Charcuterie Excellence Awards in Melbourne.

"The quality of charcuterie and smallgoods has improved remarkably in the past ten years."

German-trained fleischermeister (master butcher) and owner of Oakwood Smallgoods in Castlemaine, Ralf Finke, was one of the judges. "The quality of charcuterie and smallgoods has improved remarkably in the past 10 years," he says.

"We are seeing that there is competition in the industry pushing up the quality. This is a business where the customer can taste every shortcut. Precision, professionalism and respect for tradition are essential to achieve excellence."

Fellow judge and Sydney chef Alex Herbert adds, "These products talk to young consumers. Smallgoods and charcuterie are about old techniques such as fermentation, zero waste – using every bit of an animal. They are highly nutritious, and the sector is so diverse people can eat their way around it without getting bored."

Finke was a judge at the AMIC Charcuterie Excellence Awards in Melbourne. Richard Cornish

Mick Nunn, from Salt Kitchen in Ballarat, was awarded a gold medal plus the judges' Best in Category for his Fiocco, an Italian-style dry aged ham. He started his business in Victoria's goldfields just under eight years ago, after travelling to France to study smallgoods and charcuterie, and now cannot keep up with demand.

"We are selling everything we can produce, and we could easily sell more," says the chef-turned-smallgoods maker. "We can't get staff. I have 10 now and could easily employ another four."

Nunn attributes the growth in artisan charcuterie to chefs. "They are creative. They want a product with a story. We use free-range pigs and transform their pork using traditional methods into something greater than the sum of its parts. Something delicious. That is a great story to tell customers."

Mortadella, for example, was once a cheap, bulk industrial product using meat of dubious origin.

"Once we told chefs the provenance story, of where we source our free-range pigs, and why ours may cost a bit more, they had faith in our product and took it on," says Nunn.

"Now artisan mortadella is huge. I can't make enough."