CALS Alum Wants to Put a New Meat on Your Charcuterie Board

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Food marketer Jaclyn Kaplan Oyola ’00 founded Aussie Select, which sells deli-style cured lamb sourced from Down Under

By Melissa Newcomb

Jaclyn Kaplan Oyola ’00 was standing at a deli counter when she realized that every type of meat was represented, except for her favorite: lamb. As a food marketer with 25 years of experience, Oyola knew that many Americans love lamb, but don’t eat as much of it as others around the world do.

That possibility inspired Oyola to found Aussie Select, a line of deli-style lamb that is fully cooked and Halal certified.

Its lamb is sourced from Australia, from sheep that are free-range and naturally fed on pasturelands.

“It has a delicious, unique flavor,” Oyola says. “Lamb is a game meat, but we're told by everyone who tries it that it doesn’t taste gamey at all.”

The company’s lamb is shipped from Australia to Indiana, where the meat is smoked, cured, and flavored before being packaged.

Aussie Select offers both sliced lamb and whole roasts, in varieties like agave rosemary, tikka masala, pastrami, and prime rib.

I asked myself: can I do for lamb what turkey deli meat did for turkey, and make it more accessible than just on holidays and special occasions?

The products can be eaten alone or in sandwiches, on charcuterie boards, as a pizza topping, and in myriad other ways—including frying it so it becomes crispy, like bacon.

“I like to say our product is the ‘gateway’ lamb,” Oyola says. “I do a lot of food shows, and most of the time, even if people have never tried lamb or haven’t liked it in the past, I’ll get a convert.”

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Tapping her expertise in food marketing, Oyola notes that half of Americans eat a sandwich every day—but many Millennials and members of Gen Z are tired of traditional proteins like chicken and beef.

Lamb, she says, has been increasing in popularity in the U.S.—due in part to pandemic-era shortages of other meats that prompted some consumers to give it a try.

I like to say our product is the ‘gateway’ lamb.

“If you’re an adventurous eater, or somebody who wants to mix up their proteins,” Oyola says, “this could be your new thing.”

Aussie Select’s meats are available for slicing at the deli counters of all Wegmans stores, and its products can be ordered on Amazon.

It's also in independent grocers in several states, with additional expansion in the works.

“These cold cuts hold way more meaty flavor than the sad roast beef at the deli counter,” says Men’s Heath, which named the brand’s lamb pastrami as best cold cuts in its 2024 food awards.

“Try them folded onto a Reuben, atop a burger, or straight out of the pouch.”

The company has also been featured in food media including Tasting Table, which calls its products “the next big thing in charcuterie.”

“Whether you’re already a fan of lamb or simply browsing for a new addition to your charcuterie board,” it reports, “cured lamb is the meat you didn’t know you were missing.”

(All photos provided.)

Published November 13, 2025

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