In addition to being a wife and mother of four, Ocala resident Serena Shumate has recently taken on the new title of “The Charcuterie Mama,” serving up various snack boards to area residents in what quickly transitioned from a side business to a full-time job.

Though the business has “blown up” since she started in October, Shumate is happy to develop a career that lets her spend time with her family while bringing joy to customers through her delicious food pairings and imaginative designs.

Unsatisfied with working full time as a preschool teacher and missing out on her children’s baseball games, gymnastics practices and other quality family time, she started thinking about alternative options.

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“A long time ago I used to cut fruit at Publix,” Shumate said. “For holidays and stuff, I would make fruit trays or veggie trays for family and friends and just local people, and I really loved it, and then charcuterie became a really big thing.”

She started to research whether a charcuterie business was feasible.

“I literally called every charcuterie place in Florida just asking questions, messaging them on Facebook,” she said. “ ‘What do you do? How much do you work?’ Just kind of random questions. ‘Where do you get your products from?’ ”

She also realized there weren’t many similar businesses for events around Ocala, and the ones that do exist are mostly booked. Only a couple of weeks after deciding to try it out and starting The Charcuterie Mama Facebook page, the interest was overwhelming and she decided to quit her teaching job to pursue the business full time.

Supporting local businesses to feed local residents

In a typical week, Shumate will plan her orders on Monday, shop for food on Tuesday, wash and prepare food on Wednesday, put together boards on Thursday and deliver on Friday.

Falling under the Cottage Food Law, she can buy and resell prepackaged food. She typically sources from local businesses and other distributors, depending on what’s in season.

“I do a lot of shopping at Earth Fare, Cheney Brothers, Boar's Head, so I buy good quality things,” Shumate said. “There’s somebody (local) I buy my jams from. There's somebody I buy my honey from, so I'm all about supporting local business.”

Shumate currently spends much of her time messaging customers, so she is creating a website to easily detail her selection, pricing and availability.

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She serves Ocala, Belleview, and The Villages, providing free pickup at two locations weekly or offering delivery at an extra fee.

So far, she’s created charcuterie boards for parties, bridal showers, baby showers, offices, open houses and other special occasions. She anticipates high volume during holidays with at least 15 boards booked for Thanksgiving compared to the five she does in some weeks.

Perfecting the art of charcuterie board design

For Shumate, creating charcuterie boards is a creative outlet. In addition to traditional boards with meats, cheeses and fruits, she creates trays with special character designs or themes. For example, she can do breakfast trays with bagels, spreads and eggs or candy trays with various gummies and sweets. She can even creating a board with hot chocolate toppings.

The art of charcuterie is partially about pairing the right foods and partially about the design, she says.

“It takes practice for sure, but the main thing has been you can't put the same colors next to each other,” she said. “That way they pop. And then pairing the right things with each other. You're not going to put a dill cheese with a kiwi, like you're just not going to eat those two things together.”

After initial guidance from the customer, she exercises creative control to make a board that suits them, pairing spicy cheeses and salami or perhaps chocolate-covered nuts with sweetmeats and fruits.

Shumate says customers should be able to pick up anything on the tray to eat together and it should taste delicious.

Overwhelming demand in only a month

Pricing ranges from $25 for single boxes of one meat and one to two cheeses to $165 for an extra-large board with five cheeses and three meats, which feeds 10 to 14 people.

From its inception in early October, her Facebook page has grown to nearly 800 followers.

“It has been so much fun, but definitely all word of mouth, just people talking about,” she said.

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She’s had several people approach already asking if she’s the Charcuterie Mama.

“It just makes you feel so good in your heart that people are recognizing you and at least know who you are and what you do,” she said.

A handful of customers have started to leave positive reviews on the Facebook page as well.

“We LOVED the boards we got from The Charcuterie Mama!” wrote Jessica McKinley. “The candy board she made for my daughter’s birthday party was a huge hit with all the kids AND adults there! And the board she made for our Halloween party was as well! There was next to nothing left on both boards by the end of both parties!”

Another customer commended Shumate’s communication and execution.

“The presentation, quality, and taste of my board surpassed any expectations I had,” Kristen Cormier wrote.

Shumate may participate in farmer's markets in the future but doesn’t plan to expand much beyond her one-woman operation, which keeps her busy and allows her to spend time with her family.

“That's been my trouble with working is I’m just not happy,” she said of previous jobs. “Now, I'm happy. I'm happy getting to do this for other people and meeting people, and just putting my creations on your table is so cool.”

Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala mother finds happiness, success in charcuterie board business