Capreolus Fine Foods

It started in 2009 on a friend's farm in the New Forest, where David Richards made a smoked venison that was good enough to name the business after: Capreolus, the roe deer. Demand outgrew the space within a year, and in 2010 he and his wife Karen moved production to Rampisham in West Dorset. Continental method, West Country provenance - a combination Mitch Tonks singled out as keeping the work true to its roots.

The range is cured, air-dried and smoked meats, made by age-old techniques but with the precision of temperature and humidity-controlled drying rooms. The awards have piled up accordingly: Great Taste Charcuterie Product of the Year in 2019, a Great Taste Golden Fork and Taste of the West Champion Charcuterie both in 2023. Since 2024 they have been part of family-run Hunt's Food Group. Start with the smoked venison that began it all.