Cuterie Girls launched in October 2020 during quarantine, and they make the cutest charcuterie boards! I’m a big fan of cheese, so when I saw friends posting about Cuterie Girls on Instagram, I knew that I had to order a box during my last week in Los Angeles! It was so aesthetic and literally every single ingredient was delicious. I would 110% recommend! If you live in the LA area, all you have to do is DM @cuteriegirls and they’ll deliver your charcuterie board right to your door for all your weekend shenanigans!
Who are the creators of Cuterie Girls?
Amali Curry (26), Co- Founder, CEO
Sophia Duva (25), Co-Founder, COO
Maddy Buss (22), Director of Marketing
Location: Los Angeles
Instagram: @cuteriegirls | TikTok: @cuteriegirls | Facebook: Cuterie Girls
Tell us about your charcuterie business!
A little bit about us— first, we are cute girls making cuter boards. Second, we are here to serve you, from to-go boxes to full-on spreads. You won’t want anyone else once you get a taste of what we have to offer.
How did you all meet?
Maddy: I met Amali through summer camp and Sophia through Amali!
Amali: Sophia and I met in high school and the rest has been history
Have you grown up making charcuterie boards?
Sophia: My mom always had a charcuterie board whenever she had friends or family over. She would always make them so elaborate, I remember thinking that I didn’t want to touch them because they looked so beautiful. So when Amali reached out to me to create a board, I knew that I had enough experience watching my mom do it growing up that I could recreate her boards from memory. We also do a lot of research on social media and try to re-create boards for our boxes to give a more trendy and hip vibe to them.
Amali: My mom always loved throwing a party, and there would always be a spread. I wouldn’t say I “grew up” doing much of anything but we always knew how to make sure people have a good time. We just looked at photos and tried to recreate them, I have always had a pretty good grasp on cheese so that has helped us a lot!
What inspired you to launch Cuterie Girls?
Amali: My boyfriend wanted to go to a cheese and wine shop for his birthday this year, due to the pandemic they were closed. So I decided to take matters into my own hands, and with my knowledge of cheese, I felt like I could plan something nice. Unfortunately, I am not the creative type, I asked Sophia if she would be willing to set the board up for us if I got the supplies. Everyone, including Maddy was so impressed with our spread and through many of bottles of wine later, Cuterie Girls was born!
Where do you buy the ingredients for your boards and how do you choose what to buy?
It depends on what we are getting! It is a combination of Costco, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and local suppliers in our area. For our cheeses and meats, we have a pretty set staple box based on feedback we have received and what is popular. Everything else we include is based on what seasonal produce is available in Southern California.
What are some staple ingredients in your vegetarian boxes? Your vegan boxes?
For our vegetarian box, we include more cheeses to try, but the rest remains the same. In our vegan box, we have a few staple vegan cheeses we love! Right now we are into Treeline herb and garlic (It tastes like Boursin’s vegan sister), and Miyokos sundried tomato spread!
How long does it take to create a charcuterie board?
We are usually pushing out anywhere from 1-20 boxes a weekend, on average we would guess it takes about 20 minutes to assemble one board.
What does a typical Saturday or Sunday look like when you’re working on Cuterie Girls?
Amali/Sophia: We usually start at 8am, Amali prepares the boxes the night before, getting the honey jars ready and lining them with their parchment paper. Then Amali cuts all of the cheeses while Sophia begins to assemble them. Sophia is definitely the artist, so Amali lets her do her thing and make sure she gets everything she needs while cleaning up. We try to get out of the house by 11:30 am so that we can start delivering by 12. Typical days end around 3pm with a nice coffee break or a nap after a hard day’s work.
Maddy: I leave the food styling to the pros. My job on the weekends is to create our custom tags that I hand-draw for every box. I help wrap them all up with our cute twine and decor, and drive all over the LA area to drop off!
How many boards are you making every weekend on average?
On average we make between 8-12 boxes every Saturday!
What has been the biggest challenge that you’ve faced in creating your business?
I think for us it has just been learning how to run a successful company. In the beginning, we had a lot of back and forth about how much to charge, what our margins were going to be, how can we run a side hustle while also having a full-time job? There was a lot of thought and long conversations that went into the roots of Cuteriegirls to make sure that this was not only something fun for us, but going to be monetarily valuable.
How often do you find yourself eating charcuterie?
Sophia: SO much more and I am not mad about it! Amali knows everything about food and she picks out the best cheese. I have tried different cheeses and meats more in the past 4 months than ever before! Definitely a perk in working in the food industry.
Amali: Definitely a lot more than I was before. I now find myself grabbing cheese every time I’m at the grocery store to try something new and see what else we can add to our boxes. Unfortunately, I am lactose intolerant but that has never stopped me from eating every poorly cut piece of cheese left out of the boxes.
Maddy: Constantly. I always find a way to eat meat and cheese throughout the week, and then beg Amali/Sophia on weekends to let me try samples before we add them to the boxes.
When you aren’t eating cheese, what are you eating?
Sophia: Pasta, pasta, pasta, and a delicious steak! My family and I are regulars at an Italian restaurant called Basta over in Agoura Hills and boy let me tell you, we eat like Kings and Queens!
Amali: Do you have all day? The LA food scene is now on par with SF and New York and if you are not out here living in it, you are truly missing out on one of the best food hubs in the country. My mantra is, I will try anything once!
Maddy: Spicy tuna on crispy rice and a Philz Ecstatic with medium oat milk light sweet. Or pasta.
What people, businesses, or social media accounts inspire your boards?
Maddy: As someone who is absolutely addicted to all forms of social media, I would say there isn’t one specific person or account who influences us, but we tend to look at a lot of fantastic women-creators and food blogs, like Sweet Brie Co. from Ohio and Claire Saffitz (previously) from Bon Appetit. If you’re interested in other women-owned charcuterie content creators, I suggest @amazing_grazers on TikTok! She’s from Australia and her accent is to die for… same goes for her spreads.
Where’s the perfect place for a charcuterie picnic?
Sophia: On the beach, laying out in the sun and someone feeding me cheese
Amali: In bed, alone, with a full bottle of wine.
Maddy: The thought of sand in my box of food scares me, so I’m team “picnic at the park with hydroflasks full of white wine” all the way!
No charcuterie board is complete without….
Sophia: Honey
Amali: Brie
Maddy: Marcona Almonds (superior to all other nuts)
What are your hopes for Cuterie Girls for the future?
Maddy: I hope we can become like Bon Appetit but better and not problematic… I’m imagining us with our own weekly YouTube videos taste testing expensive cheeses and drinking wine… and getting paid to do it.
Amali: ^^ that is hot. I’d love to own a wine and cheese shop and just be the old ladies in the back drinking all the wine and pointing at other people to do the heavy lifting.
Sophia: going off of what Amali said, owning a local wine and cheese shop where we can drink wine with our customers and teach them everything about charcuterie boards. It would be amazing too if we eventually ended up on Postmates!
What advice would you give other people who want to start their own business?
Just go for it! Even if it does not work out, you will learn so much about what it takes to run a business. Skills, that even if you read about online, will never be able to fully experience until you do them yourself. We are huge proponents of there is never going to be the right time to do something, so why wait?!
Oscars speech: Are there any people in particular you’d like to thank for helping you get this far?
Amali: I would definitely like to thank my parents for allowing us to use their home as our headquarters. Also every single person who has ever bought a box from us, shared our photos, and followed us. The love we have received has been unmatched.
Sophia: I would like to first thank God for introducing me to friends like Amali and Maddy who are so smart, creative and fun! Without them, this business wouldn’t be what it is today. I would also love to say thank you to Amali and her family for opening their house for us to use! Their house is basically the Bezo’s garage (look out world, Cuterie Girls coming in HOT!).
Maddy: Obviously Amali and Sophia for allowing me to express my creativity through social media and helping me find my passion for media and advertising. Also, everyone who has purchased from us, Amali’s boyfriend Charlie for taking fire pictures of our products, my parents for always buying us cute decor items, and my lovely brand new Volkswagen Tiguan for driving me all over the city to deliver everyone good food.
FUN STUFF:
Any other passion projects/side hustles you’re working on?
Sophia: About to start a data analytics course to learn more on how to use data to improve and drive business!
Amali: I run a food Instagram account with my cute boyfriend @onlybigbites where we share the best find and staples in LA!
Maddy: I work for Simplified as their Creative Director/Lead. It’s a super cool platform where we help simplify things going on in the news and make learning about politics accessible for all! I’m also in the midst of starting a skincare and lifestyle blog with my friend, Claire. Stay tuned.
If you were a cheese, which one would you be?
Sophia: Gouda– you’re kind, classic, and lovable! People may try to take advantage of you, but always remember your worth. Also we all can’t forget the famous line in She’s the Man….
Amali: I am 100% Cheddar, a bit basic, but bold. What I lack in refinement I make up for in that I go well on pretty much everything.
Maddy: I took 2 Buzzfeed quizzes to see, and both said Feta. I’m tangy and you can’t get enough of me.
Dream Vacation:
Sophia: South of Italy so I can tour homes and move in ASAP
Amali: I would love to be rich and travel all over Japan
Maddy: Continue my tour of the Middle East! I would love to visit Egypt next.
The Last TV Show You Binge-Watched:
Sophia: New Girl and Gilmore Girls
Amali: Search Party on HBO and Bridgerton!
Maddy: Gossip Girl, Emily in Paris, and the Sinner (simultaneously)
Favorite Podcast:
Sophia: Crime Junkie and The Bible Recap, but I do love a good Dua Lipa and Ian Dior Spotify playlist
Amali: I’m more of a top 50’s playlist girl/ I appreciate a podcast but I’d rather belt out a song any day.
Maddy: My Favorite Murder ALL THE WAY. Karen and Georgia are my cool aunts who inspire me to kick a** and take names.
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