St. Cloud Shines Blog

Trendi Trays

Written by St. Cloud Shines | Nov 7, 2022 11:38:21 AM

Although experiencing a new wave of growth, Charcuterie boards have been around since the 15th century. In France, shop owners known as charcutiers, grew popular for their thoughtful meat preparation that helped establish stylized plates as part of French culture focused on eating good foods. Over time, breads, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables joined the boards as accouterments to the meats, forming the charcuterie board as we know it today.

Ok, back to 2022.

After working for years as a licensed alcohol and drug counselor, Capri felt the pull to do something different. “I knew that I was making a difference and helping people, but I felt like a paper pusher and didn’t do well not making waves and fighting for what people actually needed. I was talking ideas one spring afternoon with my friend Kayla and said ‘What if we made charcuterie boards for gatherings? What if someone could purchase it as a gift for someone else? What if we helped people be able to focus on the guests and the conversation and not the food prep and mess? Is there anything like this?’ The answer was no, and boom – Trendi Trays was born.”

Trendi Trays is a full-service charcuterie catering business. They offer a variety of sweet and savory boards of many sizes – and possibly the best part, is they come to you! “We make the list, shop, store, wash, chop, slice, and prep everything needed for the board, then we come to you and create the spread before your event or gathering, and come clean it up after. We don’t want our customers to worry about a thing. We love being able to take the load off of you!”

“I grew up in a food catering business with my Grandma who was a 1st generation immigrant from Poland. I truly believe that when you love what you do it isn’t work. I saw how hard she worked, but all the love she received and how it filled her cup to give so much to others was so incredible to experience. She still inspires me today from up above.”

Like most entrepreneurs, Capri and Kayla have learned along the way. “Time management during the creation process of the trays has been tricky, to say the least. We can’t make it ahead of time because the cheese, meat, and crackers get stale, so our fluid schedules are a must. The trays are made fresh right before they are delivered which is a curse and a blessing. They’re carefully crafted, but then need to be very carefully transported and assembled. Really, we’re fortunate that most challenges have been fun problems for us to solve. I think the trickiest thing about our boards is convincing people to pull our meat roses apart and eat them … no one wants to wreck them, but they should be eaten and not wasted!”

“Word of mouth and telling others about Trendi Trays are always incredible for our business. We always remind people that no event is too big or too small – we can work with your party size and budget to bring Trendi Trays to you. No more ‘it’s just another day’ for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. – if it’s special to you, we want to be a part of it. We do offer a yearly subscription for a discounted Trendi Tray if you want to have a charcuterie spread every year on your special day. You get your own handmade, personalized board and we fill it for you each year. We find this to be one of our best gift-giving ideas, too!”

Trendi Trays aims to liven up any celebration with our eye-catching, mouth-watering charcuterie trays. This time of year has calendars full of gathering with friends, coworkers, clients, and loved ones, and is the perfect opportunity to try something new. Yum!

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