The Oxford Charcuterie Company will celebrate two years in business in July. Local residents Katie and Chris Pirigyi started the company after they saw someone delivering charcuterie boxes while on a beach vacation in Aruba in 2021. 

“We ordered one and we were like, we could do this in Oxford,” Katie Pirigyi said. 

At the time, there were few deliverable gifts offered in Oxford. The Oxford Charcuterie Company delivers boxes of crackers, salami, cheese, fruit and nuts for between about $25 and $85.

The company had a soft launch on social media and by word of mouth. Within a month, repeat orders started coming in, Pirigyi said. 

“It’s scary to start a business because you open yourself up to judgment, ridicule, criticism and all these things,” she said. 

Katie Pirigyi, who prepares the food and makes the deliveries, works full-time in business and workforce development for an online career training school based in Michigan. Chris, who does the numbers and marketing for the business, works for the Cleveland-Cliffs steel company.

The business steadily grew each month and took off when someone shared the company on Miami University’s Facebook page for parents. Now, it caters for events in Uptown Oxford, such as the Wine Festival, business functions for Miami, as well as weddings and other events outside of town.

While it was overwhelming, particularly around graduation in May, Pirigyi said it’s allowed her and her husband the opportunity to be examples to their three children. 

“It teaches our kids how you can be in charge of your own livelihood, and the grit it takes to be a small business owner,” she said. “They see us have late nights and work hard to bring everything all together.” 

The Oxford Charcuterie Company offers free delivery in Oxford, typically around noon or after 5 p.m. The company is taking a break for the duration of June but will be back in July. Orders can be made here. 

“It feels good to be part of the economic fabric of Oxford,” Pirigyi said. “We’re residents here, but we’re also part of the vitality and that’s something we take a lot of personal pride in.”