Why did you choose wild Scottish venison and what challenges come with working with venison compared to more traditional meats?

We chose wild Scottish venison because it was at the heart of our new life in the Highlands. When we moved from the Netherlands to Scotland in 2000, Jan Jacob took on a role managing the wild deer population on a Scottish country estate. Through that work, we discovered just how delicious venison could be and quickly fell in love with the meat.
At the time, venison was not nearly as mainstream as it is today. Prices were low and not many people were eating it. We saw an opportunity to add value to this wonderful local ingredient and to increase its shelf life so it could be enjoyed further afield. That’s what sparked the early experiments, from building a wooden smoking box in the garden to developing dried sausages inspired by the Dutch charcuterie traditions Jan Jacob grew up with.
Working with venison, however, comes with its challenges, especially compared to more traditional meats like pork or beef. Venison is a very lean meat with little fat, and fat plays a crucial role in charcuterie. It affects flavour, texture, and the curing process. Developing a dried sausage recipe that worked with such a lean ingredient took time, experimentation, and persistence. Balancing flavour while achieving the right texture was not straightforward, but eventually Jan Jacob perfected a recipe that did justice to the meat.
In many ways, those early challenges shaped who we are. Choosing wild Scottish venison wasn’t just about using a local ingredient, it was about respecting the landscape we had moved to, adding value to a beautiful but underused product, and combining Scottish produce with continental charcuterie traditions to create something truly unique.

How important is sustainability and land management in the way you source your meat?

Sourcing the deer from the surrounding estates has always been very important for us. We know the stalkers and estate workers who manage the wild deer population. Because there are no natural predators anymore the wild deer population has to be managed to a sustainable level. The deer roam freely in the Scottish hills and feed on heather, wild plants and grass making venison a delicious healthy meat. It is low in fat, high in iron and a very sustainable meat source for the charcuterie products.
We believe eating wild meat is a sustainable option and can’t be compared to high intensive meat production.

As a family-run business, how has that shaped the way you work and grow?

In the early years of the company Jan Jacob was still employed on the Estate and the business was run part time but in 2010 he gave up the day job to concentrate full time on Great Glen Charcuterie. By that time our family had grown to six children and when the youngest started school Anja got involved full time and is now responsible for marketing and sales. We have grown our company slowly, prioritising the children and time spend together.
Living and working in the Scottish Highlands is very important for us and our family and we love spending time with our children in the countryside. When the children got older they got more involved in the business helping out at food festivals and tastings. We have just had two of our boys home for a year to help building our new processing unit and production which has been lovely. They are now all following their own path in life and we will see if any of them wants to work in the business. We feel they need to do their own thing first and time will tell if any of them wants to take over from us.

How do you like to serve your charcuterie, and are there any pairings you recommend?

We just love letting the charcuterie speak for itself and serve it either on a platter with cheese, crackers and chutneys or in a salad. The saltiness of the meat really works with fruity flavours, our favourite at the moment is a grilled grapes, smoked venison and burrata salad.
What do you love most about Falcon in and around your kitchen?
We love using Falcon not only in the kitchen but they are staples of our camping kit. With so many children it was important to have hardwearing plates and cups and the bonus is that they look nice too.

Do you have anything exciting coming up?

We have just moved to new premises which has been a long time coming. We have been in the old butcher shop since we started almost 25 years ago and had really outgrown the place.. It is so nice to have a purpose build space now where we can grow our business to the next level. And it is very close to our home so instead of getting in a car to check the charcuterie - which needs to be done a few times a day - we now walk down the garden path.