Artisan Food Club Brochure

Meet the Artisan Food Club Team Marcus Carter - Creator of the Artisan Food Club

I grew up in North Wales and left school at 16 to work on cattle farms in Australia. Nearly a decade later, I returned to study Agricultural Management at Seale-Hayne College in Devon. These early experiences set me up well for my time working in sales with the dairy- farming sector in Devon with Genus Breeding and then on to my mother’s food business, Patchwork Pate. There I worked on sales, both nationally and internationally, before moving on to create my own business called Carter Food House – a wholesaler to butchers and fish shops across the UK. I also created the Virtual Farmers Market, an online sales platform linking consumers directly with artisan food brands. My one passion for many years has been to help artisan food companies grow through sustainable sales and personal contact with their consumer. I have also had direct experience of selling my own brand when I created the My Own Sauce range, which I successfully sold into an

array of independent retailers.

My passion to help small startup independent food companies have a voice has been my driving force for many years and the primary incentive behind my many ventures. The Artisan Food Club has become the perfect method for this to happen. One of my mantras is to help start-ups get "un-local" and, as your shop tries these companies with very low risk introduction orders, it is a win-win relationship whilst giving them a real chance of finding success. marcus@artisanfood.club

Robert Arpino - The Back Office

Coming from an Italian family it was inevitable that food would play a major role in my life. I was the eldest of five children and lived within ½ mile of 12 cousins - all within the same age range. Family gatherings were huge, and food was the social agent that bound us all.

My working life started in 1974 with the family owned ice cream manufacturing business where I spent 18 years gaining experience in every area of food production and business management. In 1995 I bought a small frozen foods wholesaler in Oxfordshire, which went on to feature in the Fast Track 100 list of companies in 2004 & 2005. Here I specialised in supporting food service outlets by offering bespoke menu development in our own fully equipped production kitchens. Between 2010–2012 I helped establish a potato crisp manufacturer in Lima, Peru. Our remit was to commercialise the use of some of the 4000 indigenous potato varieties to create a quality exportable product. I spent some time in Lima, at the production plant, establishing our production values, as well as running the local office for 2 years. I am passionate about food and the use of interesting, authentic and high quality ingredients to create those same childhood experiences to bring people together. My businesses have always been customer facing and I demand the highest standards of customer service. To this end I have always employed sophisticated technical systems to deliver great customer service. robert@artisanfood.club