How Capreolus began
David had smoked meat for many years for domestic consumption, but earned his living as a professional salesman in a variety of industries including adhesives, lithium batteries and nanotechnology. "When I was made redundant, I ended up spending 18 months on a building site (becoming known as ‘Posh Dave’), driving dump-trucks and digging holes before my wife Karen and I started Capreolus Fine Foods in early 2009 in the kitchen of our house in Gillingham, Dorset."
It was soon clear that their nascent charcuterie business had real potential and a friend offered David and Karen the use of a converted calving shed to grow it beyond the kitchen table stage. Over the next few months they developed and increased their product range, picked up several customers, and the business quickly outgrew the calving shed. They moved to Uphall Farmhouse in Rampisham near Dorchester where Capreolus now fills a large redundant farm building.