Charcuterie and Beyond: Foris Extraordinary Meats Celebrates 10 Years and Another Award
Foris Extraordinary Meats, formerly known as North Country Charcuterie, just celebrated 10 years of crafting award-winning cured meats, sausage, bacon and other products.
The family-run company was created by brothers Duncan and James Forbes and their mother, Jane Forbes. The original name came from James’ time in school in the North Country of New York, “basically everything north of Syracuse,” he says. There, he got involved in the local agricultural community and began cooking. “That sort of sparked the culinary journey,” he says. “I wanted to bring that community collaboration to Columbus. So that's why we always strive to be as much sourced from Ohio as we possibly can.”
As the company has grown and earned a national following over the past decade, the name “North Country Charcuterie” became too limiting, both in terms of geographic footprint and product offerings. Customers didn’t always recognize it also produced bacon and sausage. “Often on my sales calls, people would be surprised that we're based in Columbus, Ohio,” Duncan says. “We wanted a bit more flexibility from a brand standpoint. As we diversify our products, and in the eyes of consumers and retailers and chefs, we wanted to position ourselves as a more well-rounded meat company as opposed to just charcuterie.”
The trio worked with a branding firm to rename the company Foris Extraordinary Meats. “Foris” is Latin for “outside,” which speaks to the alfresco living conditions of the Duroc/Yorkshire hogs at McDowell Farms in Southern Ohio, where the Forbeses get their pork. They also enjoy the echo of Foris to their last name. The new logo incorporates the traditional Forbes Scottish clan crest and is colored orange as a nod to Jane’s Dutch heritage.
The new name also allows the company to capitalize on its growing national success. The Forbeses have taken home honors at the Good Food Awards four years in a row—first an honorable mention for their Hoguera spreadable chorizo, then wins for wagyu bresaola, wagyu beef bacon and most recently their Fino salami.
That recognition has helped Foris distribute farther outside Ohio, but the real key is the commitment to fresh ingredients and custom recipes. “At the Good Food Awards, I went around to a lot of the other companies that sell in our niche,” Jane says. “I'm as unbiased as I can be when I say our flavors are really stronger than other companies because we use so many fresh ingredients. Of course, I am biased. I’m a mother, after all.”
Forging ahead with a new name, the “Salami Squad” (as their T-shirts say) hopes to add more products and expand distribution, all while working closely together as a family. “It's been a grind,” Duncan says. “And also it's been great.”
This story is from the July 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly.
By Nicholas Dekker
