A Charcuterie Business, Inspired by High End Fashion

Case Study

Apr 1

The Business Idea

What started as an experimental hobby quickly turned into a full-time side hustle for JJ Wu Chang. In 2019, JJ was introduced to the “Pasta Club Jr.”; a group of friends come together, turning their kitchens into food labs, and experimenting with recipes. At one of these gatherings, the organiser introduced JJ to a homemade duck prosciutto; it was divine. After learning that the curing process only took 2 weeks, JJ set to work to recreate it. After a few failed attempts, his curing skills began to quickly develop. Motivated by this newly acquired skill, (paired with having to spend a lot of time at home due to civil unrest in Hong Kong,) JJ set about experimenting with curing anything he could get his hands on!

The pieces became bigger, the recipes more complicated, and before long, The Meat Consultant became something he wanted to take more seriously. Wanting to share his creations not only with friends, but to excite the palates of people throughout Hong Kong and the world, JJ realised he would need to refine The Meat Consultant brand to align with this now well honed charcuterie skills.

The Design Process

The brief; "Charcuterie meets high end fashion". Definitely not a brand positioning I had ever attempted before… but after some research, was pleased to begin to discover an aesthetic that could very well meat the requirement!

Drawing inspiration from the typography and style of fashion and editorial branding, we re-designed the Meat Consultant branding to better reflect the unique and refined product JJ had been working so hard to develop.

We maintained the primary colours from the original palette, as well as the serif-styled font. But added an extra level of finesse, with customised typography and the development of a distinctive brandmark, pattern and icon set