Tempus Charcuterie

We talk to co-founder Dhruv Baker

Who founded the business, when was it started and where did you first open?

Tempus was founded by myself Drew Baker and Tom Whittaker in 2017 and our unit was operational and open on the 1st of January 2018 in Weybridge Surrey. 

What inspired you to start the business in the first place?

It was a combination of things really. Firstly, Tom had lived in Rome for a number of years and that’s where he discovered a real passion and interest in making his own charcuterie and where he managed to meet and spend time with some of Europe’s top charcuterie producers. He did a lot of training and came back to the UK where he continued making produce as an artisan hobby.

Tom's love of food led him to the Masterchef finals in 2011 and he also trained as a chef and so got lots of experience working in kitchens as did I of course (Dhruv in fact won Masterchef in 2010). At this time Tom and I were sharing a kitchen together and at times Tom would be working with a 180 kg pig which seemed far more exciting than making canapes. So we started doing it together as a hobby, just for ourselves, friends and family.

However we soon realised that whilst there were a lot of British charcuterie producers around, and some excellent producers too, there was also a lot of inconsistency and we couldn't understand why when here in the UK we have access to some of the best animals in the world. I've always had a passion for cooking and cooking with spices particularly and Tom had gained lots of experience as a butcher when he did his training in Italy. So we came at things with a chef's perspective which meant that we wanted to be completely consistent in terms of quality and supply. We thought let's give it a go and then we launched and very quickly developed a really loyal following from consumers and from businesses.

Our customers have a passion for local food and an interest in animal welfare and understand that produce is worth paying a premium for if it has these qualities. We know that we are always going to struggle to compete on price with the big European charcuterie producing nations for mow, but with the right ethos we believe there is a significant and growing market here in the UK.

Tell us about your style of production.

We undoubtedly have an Italian background and style of production because that's where Tom undertook all of his training. But then we have a completely domestic supply chain of high welfare animals which gives it a completely British character too. We only use British breeding stock and we only use sows for our pork product and ex dairy cattle for our bresaola. This combines with our chef backgrounds and with my love of working with spices so hopefully all of these influences come together and complement each other to produce a thoughtful and clear business 

What are the guiding principles of the business? 

It all starts with the word “Tempus” which is Latin for time and our approach is all about time. We start with the age of the animals as we only use old animals which are breeding stock, sows and dairy cattle, which are much older than animals purely bred for meat. Older animals are bigger animals and are better animals for what we use them for. The second point is the time spent curing and time spent aging our products and the last point is approaching the animal industry much more responsibly. There is a huge amount of wastage. A lot of the animals we use would end up as pet food for instance, but actually they are incredibly high quality animals. We are actually advocating slowing the whole process down so we celebrate the meat. If we are going to eat less meat then the argument follows that you can then eat the best meat you can. In fact on the continent and in Italy for example these old animals are held in extremely high regard.  The sows for example are 3 to 5 years old and are just incredible meat content. They have done a lot more work, the muscles have done a lot more work and so they are much tastier. However in the UK we really don't have much appetite for sows as they have a stronger flavour which many people are not used to. We can say hand on heart that we were the first producer in the UK to use sows in this way. 

Where and to who do you sell your products?

We sell to a number of retailers such as Bayley and Sage and Fortnum and Mason as well as to lots of independents too. We supply lots of restaurants including the three Michelin star restaurant Waterside Inn as well as to Local pubs and everything in between. We supply wholesalers and sell direct to consumers on our website as well as to a number of markets in and around London. We also provided product recently to Twickenham for the cricket and to some airlines too before the pandemic hit. 

What is your favourite product that you produce?

Right now it's the loin, and when the jowl is on song that's incredible too. The achari salami is also something really different that I love with unique spice notes that works really well in what's a classic salami at heart 

Which country's cured meat scene appeals the most to you outside of the UK and do you have any favourite products?

Tom's background is undeniably Italian where as my background and interests are more Spanish. I've lived in Spain on occasions in the past and so for me the single best charcuterie product in the world bar none Is a really good iberico jamon from Jabugo outside Seville.

I also love some of the Croatian charcuterie which display some amazing regional differences and I do also love some of the Polish and Hungarian produce too. 

How do you think the British cured meat scene is evolving? 

I would say right now that understanding is fairly low amongst the majority of people here as we don't have a strong cultural heritage of these products. We are generally only really exposed to them when we go on holiday to Spain, Italy or France. However now there is more produce being made here  and I think the base level is increasing. I think people are slowly starting to move away from this commoditized view that a ham is a ham and a chorizo is a chorizo whilst at the same time there is an increasing interest in animal welfare and provenance.

I also think that there is a growing recognition about the food miles issue and  there is a subsection of consumers who want to know where their product is from and that the animal used has been looked after and raised to ethical standards of welfare and hasn't been shipped around the world. These people are prepared to pay a premium for it. I compare it to the cheese and wine sectors here in the UK which were not renowned for producing particularly great produce 20 years ago but have grown over time to establish themselves as really credible producers of fantastic British product.