Charcuterie competitors Rare & Pasture and Tempus Foods merge

British charcuterie and smoked meat brands Rare & Pasture and Tempus Foods are merging their businesses to expand their products’ production and sales.

By bringing together the skills and facilities of both companies, the consolidation is aimed at creating a product expertise hub and production scale within the British charcuterie sector, across both the foodservice and retail sectors.

Tempus Foods was set up in Weybridge, Surrey, in 2017 by Tom Whitaker and Dhruv Baker, both MasterChef UK finalists. Its range includes salamis and whole muscle products such as King Peter ham, smoked coppa and bresaola.

Rare & Pasture is based at Fowlescombe Farm, a regenerative farm in South Devon. It produces a range of charcuterie products often using high-welfare meat from its own farm. In addition to its charcuterie, Rare & Pasture produces a range of cooked meat products, some of them organic, including naturally-smoked frankfurters.

Following the merger, the brands’ product offerings will remain the same, and going forward, foodservice customers will have access to both Tempus and Rare & Pasture products, giving greater choice and range flexibility than the sector has had in the past.

The businesses will continue to trade under both the Rare & Pasture and Tempus Foods brands, with sales and distribution being led from the Tempus location and production and packing shared between the two sites, though some staff are working alternately from both bases. Currently the group has a 26-strong workforce across both businesses, and there are several additional positions under recruitment.

According to Tempus’ commercial director, Baker, the business’s growth has previously been constrained by its production facilities’ size and its access to working capital. “By combining with Rare & Pasture, we remove these bottlenecks and position ourselves to better serve the fast-growing UK charcuterie market,” he said, adding: “Through this merger we will continue to make the well-loved products that both businesses have become known for and have greater potential to expand our range into related cooked meat products.”

Andrew Owens, chairman of Rare & Pasture, commented: “The British charcuterie and artisan meat product market is highly fragmented, leading to an unnecessarily high cost base, often combined with supply reliability issues. Through this transaction we are creating greater supply capacity as well as product and customer service synergies that can accelerate the development of this evolving British food sector.

“Our mission is not restricted to either our existing geographic situation or our existing product range, and so it is hoped that this merger will also stimulate other like-minded artisan producers and farmers to offer their skills and products into our growing portfolio.”

Image: Left and right: Tom Whitaker and Dhruv Baker from Tempus Foods; centre: Andrew Owens from Rare & Pasture.