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Charcuterie

Good charcuterie is made by hand with meat from animals that were raised without hormones and provided with feed that is free of animal by-products.

About

The Good Food Awards rely on the expertise of the charcuterie community to create the tasting, determine judges and set standards for the category. Read on to learn who has been integral to building the category, as well as what the charcuterie standard are and who will be judging this year.

Committee

Co-Chairs

Susannah Schnick

Co-Owner/Executive Chef, Picnic Rotisserie

Susannah has worked for 20 years in the food industry and as a butcher in the Bay Area. Her title as butcher started at Cafe Rouge in Berkeley, then she worked at Ver Brugge Meat-Fish Poultry in Oakland, and Clove & Hoof in Oakland. She started Picnic with her Business partner and co-chair Leslie in 2017 selling sausage and charcuterie at local farmer’s markets. Picnic Rotisserie won a Good Food Award for their chicken liver mousse with bacon and bourbon in 2018, and opened up their brick and mortar in Albany December 2020 and have been going strong ever since!

Leslie Nishiyama

Co-Owner, Picnic Rotisserie

Leslie is co-owner at Picnic, a woman-owned rotisserie & deli in Albany, CA. She and Susannah started Picnic in 2017 at the local farmers markets and opened our brick and mortar in December 2020. We are 2019 Good Food Award winners for our Chicken Liver Mousse with Bacon that we continue to make at our shop. Before joining Picnic, Leslie worked in budgets/operation/administration for various engineering labs and start ups in the Bay Area, but was always a passionate home cook. When the opportunity arose to start Picnic with Susannah, she couldn’t resist. She is looking forward to working with the Good Food crew and meeting all the amazing food producers!

2026 Judges

Julian Quisquater

Senior Editor, Soccer America

Sheana Davis

Owner/Cheesemaker/Chef, The Epicurean Connection

Dario Barbone

Owner, Alimentari Aurora

John Fink

Owner, The Whole Beast

Hugh Rosen

Grocery Director, Gus's Community Market

Greg O'Neill

Principal, Grow Ideas

Aaronette King

Executive Chef/Managing Partner, Eat Play Events & Catering

Leilani Baugh

Executive Chef / Owner, The Gilded Spoon

Standards

In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award, charcuterie entries must meet the following standards:

  • Made in the USA or US territories*
  • Handcrafted by the entrant.
  • Free of artificial ingredients, including colors, flavors and preservatives.**
  • Made with ingredients that are sourced with a balanced objective of local, organic and highest quality.
  • If made with additional animal products (dairy, eggs), they adhere to the same animal husbandry standards as meat ingredients.
  • If made with non-animal ingredients, they are traceable, non-GMO and grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers.***
  • Made with respect and fair compensation for everyone working at the ranch, in the slaughterhouse and in the kitchen.
  • Made by a crafter that is an upstanding member of the Good Food community, committed to equity and inclusion in all levels of their business, as exemplified through integrating these practices:
    • Creating a safe and healthy work environment where employees receive a fair wage, are safe and respected at work and have access to the resources they need to keep themselves healthy.
    • Offering a diversity, equity, and inclusion training to staff members and/or leadership annually.
    • Thoughtfully acknowledging the heritage of culturally-specific food on websites, packaging and/or marketing materials.
    • If your company is Publicly-held, Owned/Partially-owned by publicly-held compan(y)ies, or has over $100 million in annual revenue, your company, as well as its parent company(ies), are required to meet additional criteria to become Good Food Qualified:
      • Offer a minimum of 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all employees
      • Have at least one woman, minority, or LGBTQIA+ representative on their Board of Directors
      • Have a proven track record of prioritizing a safe and fairly-compensated work culture, with no violations in the area of wage or workplace safety in the past 5 years. This will be verified on the Good Jobs First Violation Tracker

    Made with meat from animals raised:

    • Using good animal husbandry.*****
    • Out of confinement that restricts natural species-specific behaviors.
    • With an understanding of the animal’s genetics and care taken to create an environment suitable for the specific breed.
    • With plenty of access to the outdoors, including access to pasture and natural vegetation.
    • Without gestation crates.
    • Without hormones.
    • Without sub-therapeutic antibiotics.
    • Without feed containing animal by-products.******
    • With concern and mindfulness for slaughterhouse practices.
    • Butchered in a state, county or USDA-approved facility.

    In order to verify that animals are treated in accordance with our standards for good animal husbandry, we highly recommend that meat is sourced from a farm with one of the following certifications:

Subcategories

Additionally, charcuterie entries must fit within one of the following subcategories (vegetarian and/or vegan substitutes are permitted):

  • Bacon
  • Dry Cured
  • Smoked
  • Paté/Terrine

View the 2024 Charcuterie Winners