Standards
Charcuterie companies must meet the following standards for at least 50% of their product line:
- 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:
- Animal Welfare Approved
- Global Animal Partnership: Level 4 or higher
- Other certifications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis but should include pasture-raised animals.
Apply to join by reaching out to membership@specialtyfood.com.