A Complete Guide on Starting a Charcuterie Business

If you are passionate about food and have an artistic eye, starting a charcuterie business can be a dream come true for you. There is an increasing interest in charcuterie boards, be it for events or just a fun new way to dine. 

But interest also comes with a lot of competition. Do you have what it takes to surpass all competitors in your area and create a profitable business? 

In this article, you will find a step-by-step guide with actionable tips on how to start a charcuterie business that brings in considerable profit. 

A charcuterie business is a food establishment solely focusing on selling charcuterie boards. The main target audience for a charcuterie will be people organizing events, such as weddings, meetings, and gatherings. 

But, as the concept gains popularity, more and more people are searching for restaurant-style places where they can enjoy a charcuterie board with family and friends. 

Most charcuterie businesses focus on food artistry and sell raw ingredients that are arranged in an eye-pleasing way. Here are some common ingredients found on a charcuterie board: 

• Different types of cheese, combining soft, hard, and specialty offerings; 

• Meats: that are safe to consume raw with a variety of flavors; 

• Breads: sourdough and baguettes are popular; 

• Crackers: to add a bit of texture; 

• Fruits: cherries, pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries can add a hint of sweetness; 

• Olives: for the salty kick; 

• Nuts can pair well with a lot of cheese options. 

The short answer is yes, starting a charcuterie business can lead to great profit. For example, here’s how a charcuterie business managed to earn $1 million in just three years. 

But if and how fast you will manage to make your charcuterie business profitable depends on a couple of factors, such as: 

• The demand: for example, in a small town, there may not be enough people interested in enjoying charcuterie boards; 

• Your location: are you able to travel to clients, or are you expecting them to come to you? 

• The competition: are there a lot of direct competitors in your area? 

• The ingredients: will you be able to source quality ingredients at a great price? 

Starting a charcuterie business comes with both advantages and disadvantages, and you must be aware of them so you can decide if this is the best financial decision for you. 

Here are the pros of running a charcuterie business: 

• No preparation equipment cost: as charcuterie boards don’t involve food preparation, you will spend less on equipment; 

• Predictable inventory: you are less likely to overorder or produce food waste when you sell fixed charcuterie boards; 

• Scalability: the business model is simple to expand upon if there is a lot of demand; 

• Various income streams: you can sell charcuterie boards in a restaurant, online, and also cater a variety of events. 

And these are the cons of opening a charcuterie business: 

• Lower profit margins: when you use costly specialty ingredients and have to practice affordable pricing, your profit margin will be small; 

• High employee turnover: most businesses in the restaurant industry struggles to keep employees long-term; 

• Established competitors: you have to offer clients something better and different to persuade them to choose your charcuterie business; 

• Reaching your target audience: you will have to invest in marketing to get the word out and convince potential clients to try out your food. 

The cost for your own charcuterie business will be directly dependent on the size of your establishment, location, ingredient quality, and equipment. You can expect to see a profit margin between 30% and 50% with the following main costs: 

• Rent or mortgage: from $1,000/month in less expensive cities to $80,000/month for high-income cities like New York; 

• Cleaning and maintenance: between $63 to $200 a month; 

• Marketing: can range between $75 and $2,486; 

• Inventory: between $300 and $5,000; 

How much does it cost to make a charcuterie board? Excluding the overhead costs such as utilities and labor, you can expect to pay anywhere from $15 to $30 to create a small charcuterie board and upwards of $100 for big boards with premium ingredients. 

When starting a charcuterie business, it is helpful to choose a niche concept, so you can differentiate yourself from the competitors. Here are a couple of charcuterie business examples to get inspired by: 

• Charcuterie shop: a small restaurant that sources ingredients locally or imports them and serves customers both in the location and online; 

• Mobile charcuterie business: a food truck that only serves charcuterie boards; 

• Catering charcuterie business: focuses on creating charcuterie boards for events and gatherings; 

• Specific diet–charcuterie: a business that is vegan, vegetarian, halal, dairy-free, or caters to any other type of diet. 

If you’ve decided to take the big step and start a charcuterie business, here are the steps you have to follow to ensure a comfortable profit: 

The charcuterie business plan will be your roadmap to success. You can use it to attract investors and keep yourself accountable while the business evolves. Here is what your plan must include: 

• Mission statement: alongside other start-up information such as target market, unique selling proposition, and objectives. Who are your clients, and what are you promising them? Moreover, what makes your business special compared to other similar businesses? 

• Market analysis: analyze the existing demand and competitor scene to identify if there is space and interest for your charcuterie board business; 

• Menu offerings: what type of charcuterie boards will you offer? What sizes and prices? 

• Financial projections: how much will you invest and what will you spend every single dollar on? How much do you estimate you will earn, by month and quarter? 

• Operations plan: provide a detailed guide on how your business will operate, from acquiring the ingredients to preparing the boards and selling them; 

• Marketing plan: how will you promote your charcuterie business? What channels will you use? How much money will you spend on marketing efforts? 

Do you need a license to sell charcuterie boards? Yes, to legally sell food, you will need a variety of licenses and permits. 

While the requirement may differ according to location and type of charcuterie business, here are the main ones you should plan on obtaining: 

• Trademark Registration and Copyright Protection to protect your brand’s name; 

• Health Department Permits, such as a food service establishment permit; 

• Food Handling Certifications for all employees; 

• Charcuterie board business license; 

• An alcohol selling license is required if you plan to sell alcohol at your establishment. 

The charcuterie menu is what will draw people in. To get people to order, hire a photographer or learn more about food photography, so you can have some mouth-watering images that potential clients won’t be able to resist. 

Here are a few charcuterie menu ideas that will make your business stand out: 

• Allow people to customize their boards: One of the best charcuterie board menu ideas to increase profit is to allow people to add ingredients at an added price. This enables customers to create the perfect board, while you get to sell more; 

With GloriaFood’s online menu builder, you can add different choices and add-ons to every menu item, so customers are in full control of what they order.

• Carefully pick suppliers: as there is no cooking process involved, the quality of the ingredients will be immediately noticed by clients. If you want to get closer to your local community, consider getting your ingredients locally and mentioning that in the charcuterie board menu description; 

• Pick a competitive price: you are surely wondering “how much should I charge for a charcuterie board?”. There are many ways to price menu items, but the main factors should be: 

• What the competition is charging 

• How much it costs you to produce the charcuterie board 

• What profit do you want to make from each item 

• Add drinks to the menu: drinks have a high-profit margin, so they are a great addition to your menu. You can also create charcuterie boards that pair well with different drinks to encourage customers to order more; 

• Make it easy to order: during rush hours, the speed of service will decrease, and this may lead to unhappy customers. If you want to increase customer satisfaction, use an on-premises ordering system with a QR code to enable customers to order and pay using their phone, by simply scanning the code once they are seated. 

 Watch the tutorial below to learn how to create your own charcuterie QR code menu:

Starting a charcuterie business begins with picking the best location. For some types of charcuteries, this will be less important. 

For example, for catering, you only need a commercial kitchen, and for a mobile charcuterie business, you have to pick a food truck, but you can change locations whenever you want. 

For a restaurant charcuterie business, follow these tips to get the perfect location: 

• Go where your clients are: after you do your market research, you should have a better idea of where your clients are located. Try to secure a space that is easily reachable to convince them to visit you; 

• Pick a location with a lot of foot traffic: to tempt people who are just passing by to come in. For example, in the city center, near landmarks, on the waterfront, or near offices; 

• Consider patio space: when choosing a location, look out for spaces that also have a patio space to install some tables. This will allow you to serve more customers and provide the added benefit of dining outside during warm months. 

Besides rent and ingredients, equipment is one of the biggest costs when starting a charcuterie board business. That’s why you need to plan and create an effective budget plan. 

While you can skip on the more traditional restaurant equipment, as you will not be preparing ingredients, you will still need: 

• Refrigeration equipment: commercial refrigerators and freezers to keep ingredients as fresh as possible for the longest time; 

• Waste disposal: to safely and legally dispose of any food waste your business may produce; 

• Serving equipment: such as plates, platters, glasses, utensils; 

• Packaging equipment: for catering and online orders; 

• Cleaning equipment: such as sinks and washing machines. 

Excellent customer service will grow your charcuterie business’s reputation and convince people to come back again and again. 

The best thing you can do to improve client satisfaction is to get an efficient deli POS system that will allow you to serve guests faster. 

Here are the main benefits you will enjoy if you use the GloriaFood deli POS system: 

Hungry customers can enjoy their food in almost no time because the GloriaFood deli POS software allows you to create checks in moments. 

The categories are color-coded so employees can easily find the menu items they are looking for.

You can swipe to the left or to the right to delete an item from the check. 

Afterward, click the quantity of a menu item in the check detail to increase the number by 1. 

And long hold (long click) to reset the quantity to the original value. 

Allow customers to pay using their preferred method, be it credit card, mobile, or smartwatch payment.  

Monitor your road to success with the Reports module from the GloriaFood charcuterie POS system. You can access valuable data such as: 

• Sales reports 

• Cash flow 

• Best-selling items 

• Effective promotions 

• and much more. 

When starting a charcuterie business, picking the best employees is key if you want customers to be satisfied. Have a thorough interview process to get to know candidates and choose the ones that best fit your values and work ethic. 

Once you have a great team, you can take advantage of the GloriaFood POS to make managing them a breeze. Here are some helpful staff management features: 

• Training mode for new employees so you can show them how to use the POS system without giving them access to your financials; 

• Easy and fast log-in for every employee with RFID cards; 

• Assign different responsibilities for team members, such as only giving selected ones access to the cash drawer; 

• Track everything your employees do, from open checks and payments to refunds. 

You can only serve a limited number of clients in the restaurant, so if you want to increase sales, you must start selling your charcuterie boards online. 

The great news is that the GloriaFood POS system comes with a free online ordering system that you can add to your website in less than 10 minutes. Simply follow these steps: 

Clients will be able to place orders intuitively in just a few clicks on your website. These orders will be automatically accepted by the POS and sent to the designated kitchen printers for preparation. 

What’s more, you will have a centralized look at both in-store and online orders so you can better track your sales. 

If you don’t have a website, you can generate one for a small monthly fee using the built-in restaurant website builder. You will receive a sales and SEO-optimized website in seconds to help make your business known online. 

After you’ve done all the work involved in setting up a charcuterie business, it is time to get clients. For this, you need to create a marketing plan that exclusively targets your selected audience. 

Here is what you should be focusing on: 

• Google Business Profile: update it with accurate information, such as a link to your website and menu, exact address, and working hours, to get people who are searching for charcuterie boards on Google Maps to visit you; 

• In-menu promotions: attract new clients with small discounts such as free delivery, free drinks for big orders, and a 10% discount for orders over a certain amount; 

• Spread flyers: use GloriaFood to easily create flyers that you can share around your location to increase your charcuterie business’s popularity; 

• Be active on social media: post pictures of your food, interact with followers, and invite them to visit you and order online; 

• Encourage people to leave positive reviews: ask happy customers to leave good reviews so you can grow your business’s reputation; 

• Send out email marketing campaigns: marketing should also focus on increasing the number of repeat customers. 

 With the automated email marketing module from GloriaFood, you can get clients to place a second order, prevent cart abandonment, and re-engage clients. Moreover, your customers are automatically segmented according to purchasing history, so they only get sent relevant emails. Learn more: 

If you want to establish yourself as an important name on the local food scene, you must start networking. Find complementary businesses you can partner up with, such as: 

• Wineries and breweries that would pair well with your charcuterie boards; 

• Hotels that may need food for clients or catered events; 

• Local event planners who could use your business for any future events. 

Collaborating will also give you access to a new market that can easily be turned into loyal customers. 

Starting a charcuterie business is challenging but can also be extremely rewarding if you manage to make your establishment successful. Focus on sourcing excellent prime materials and employing technology that will make your work easier and increase client satisfaction.