To category managers like Missy Holley, meat snacks are missing a golden opportunity to make an already strong category even stronger.
While attracting more users outside the younger male-dominated core is an objective, convenience-store price points are the most vexing concern facing Holley, category manager and buyer for Lassus Bros., Fort Wayne, Indiana, a chain of 35 Lassus-branded stores.
At a time when value and price relief are king to consumers, Holley said the category is shooting itself in the foot. “Pricing can be astronomical,” said Holley, citing $10 bags of some jerky SKUs as proof.
“To get people to switch from other snacks to meat snacks and jerky has become tougher. Take chips: Quest (Protein Chips) are $3.50 a bag,” said Holley. “Frito-Lay took notice and lowered their retail [price] on most SKUs. Meat snack suppliers are not lowering prices like other snack categories are.”
If it sounds like a full negative narrative, it’s not. Meat snack dollars at Lassus are growing in the 10% to 20% range, and space allocation is plentiful. “We increased endcaps and inline sets: We have stores that range from 4- to 6-foot sections to 8 to 12 feet at other stores,” Holley said.
All things considered, “we’re satisfied with the performance … except pricing. The economy is bad, and some don’t have money to buy bigger bags, even though bigger bags are better value for the money,” Holley said.
Setting the pace for the category are portable sticks and steak bites. Holley said the emerging steak bites segment is resonating with baby boomers and Gen X males, while younger consumers seek the protein inherent in meat sticks.
National brands get much of the spotlight, but Holley singles out regional brands, including Kentucky-based Mingua Beef Jerky. “Mingua brought something different to the shelf and has become one of the most successful impulse-driven jerky brands we’ve added,” Holley said.
The price isn’t right
For the year ending Dec. 28, 2025, dried meat snacks grew dollars 1.7% across the U.S. c-store channel—a $2.1 billion market, reports Chicago-based Circana. “All other” dried meat snacks, however, fell 0.1% in dollars ($1.2 billion market), while jerky ($859 million annualized c-store sales in 2025) grew dollars 4.4%, according to Circana.
“The value piece is extremely important right now,” said Rebecca Gregory, center store category manager for Powell, Tennessee-based Weigel’s, which owns and operates more than 90 c-stores.
“Larger bags still have a place, especially for the core jerky shopper, but they can be harder to convert at the shelf due to the higher ring. Higher-priced bags can feel like a bigger commitment in a convenience store,” she said.
At Weigel’s, where the average per-trip customer spend sits at $11, asking someone to pony up the majority on an impulse item “can be a pretty big ask,” Gregory said, adding, “that makes smaller [meat snack] formats, sticks, steaks, bites and combo packs, important: They give the customer a more approachable, impulsive way into the category.”
- Weigel's is No. 77 on CSP’s 2026 Top 202 ranking of convenience store chains by store count. Lassus Bros. is No. 176.
Old Wisconsin recently implemented a lower price point across its Smoke Stacks brand, with the goal of generating value and providing relief to “real-life budgets,” said Charlie Kuoni, senior brand manager for the Sheboygan, Wisconsin-based brand, owned by Carl Buddig & Co.
Old Wisconsin transitioned Smoke Stacks from a 2.5-ounce size to a more streamlined 2-ounce offering and at a more affordable $3.49 price point, down from $4.49. “As rising costs continue to impact households nationwide, people are looking for foods that are convenient, satisfying and affordable—without sacrificing flavor or protein,” Kuoni said.
Promotions induce trial, repeat
Promotions and display efficiencies are tasked with helping offset challenges around price.
To recognize Lassus’s 100th anniversary celebration throughout 2025, the chain collaborated with Conagra on a fall 2025 promotion that merchandised Giant Slim Jim’s for $1.
“We plan to activate the Slim Jim promo again [this year],” Holley said. “Conagra was very satisfied with it, and so were we. We sold thousands of standard-size units.”
For the observance of the United States’ 250th anniversary, Lassus is collaborating with Cattleman’s Cut on a promotion where various Cattleman’s Cut-branded products are sold at 50% off. Brand packaging is embossed with a red, white and blue color scheme.
As a broad tactic to drive volume, Holley said it’s incumbent on the team to place “the right shippers in the right metro areas at the right time.”
“In rural Indiana, we see meat snack/ jerky sales as more robust even though stores might be smaller,” she said. “We always strive to keep the OG (original legacy brands) vibrant because, even though some seek new varieties, there’s always a customer base that gravitates to those originals.”
Speaking about meat snack cross-promotions tied to other store categories, Gregory said this past year, Weigel’s tied jerky to fuel rewards.
“With the current environment around fuel, we’ve seen strong success with that approach,” Gregory said. “It reinforces the importance of watching what’s happening around your customer and customizing promotions to speak the language they need at that moment.”
Facing headwinds
Speaking about the goal to widen the user “tent” and recruit additional types to buy meat snacks, Holley of Lassus is eager to attract more female consumers, which make up a small portion of meat snack-buyers.
Packaging can help with converting more women to the snacks, Gregory said.
“Packaging can do the work, sometimes the marketing [does it] and sometimes it’s simply a product or brand that catches the customer’s eye,” Gregory said.
Strategies such as cleaner ingredient callouts, protein messaging, portion-controlled formats, cheese and meat combos and alternatives beyond traditional beef all help broaden the audience.
For example, in March, Chomps, maker of 100% grass-fed beef jerky sticks, launched its first-ever chicken stick line, adding to existing beef, turkey and venison offerings. Flavors deliver 80 calories and 12 grams protein made from antibiotic-free chicken.
The move taps into an underrepresented segment of the meat snack market, aiming to broaden appeal beyond its core audience.
“We saw a clear gap: America’s most consumed protein wasn’t meaningfully represented in a category we’ve helped grow,” said Rashid Ali, CEO and co-founder of Chomps. “Chicken [is] an opportunity to reshape an underdeveloped segment and continue to raise the bar for what consumers can expect.”
Gregory said the answer isn’t making the category feel completely different, but making sure more consumers can see themselves in it.
The category continues to serve as a strong center-store pillar. During first-quarter 2026, Weigel’s total meat snack dollars rose nearly 12%, with immediate consumption a compelling reason why.
“To me, that said customers are still engaged with the category but are being more intentional with what they buy and where they see value,” Gregory said. “Portability, protein and price points all have to work together.”
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.