Meat snacks showed double-digit growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Randy Adams, center store manager for Carmi, Illinois-based Martin & Bayley Inc., which operates Huck’s convenience stores. Innovation in pack size, merchandising and meat snack manufacturing have led to the continued rise in sales.
Dried meat snacks increased 1.9% in dollar sales in 2022, taking in $2.2 billion in dollar sales for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 4, 2022, according to Chicago-based market research firm IRI. Unit sales were down 5.1%, however, which may be a result of bigger bag sizes.
Thinking customers would never spend $9 for a bag of jerky, Adams said he was shocked when Jack Link’s pitched 10-ounce bags four years ago.
When Adams brought it in, the product did so well in dollar sales—though not as well in unit sales—that he has stocked it ever since. Even more shocking, said Adams, is the success of the 21-ounce bag retailing for $24.99 from Old Trapper.
“[Jack Link’s] discovered that if you give a guy 3 ounces of beef jerky, he eats 3 ounces; if you give him 10, he eats 10,” Adams said. “And it’s not a take-home bag. People are consuming that in one fell swoop.”
Channeling growth with larger sizes, Old Trapper Beef Jerky recently released large-format and single-serve packages for meal replacement, which is an increasing trend with on-the-go consumers, said Robert Leary, chief marketing officer of Old Trapper, Forest Grove, Oregon.
“We have been bucking the downsizing trend for years and have consistently introduced larger format bags from a 1-quarter-pound Big Bag to our 18-ounce family bag,” Leary said.
However, Huck’s No. 1 meat snack is Jack Link Classic Original, retailing for around $1 at 0.8 ounces, said Adams.
“I’m pretty pleasantly surprised that it doesn’t seem like [larger size] price is affecting people that much,” said Adams. “But I still think we have to offer something for that consumer that doesn’t want to spend $25 on a bag of jerky. There’s still a lot of people out there that are coming into our store with $5 in their pocket, and they’ve got to figure out what they can eat and what they can snack on, on a budget.”
Huck’s highlights its meat snacks at a rack near the fountain drinks, which is a destination in its stores, said Adams. After transforming a four-sided unit that previously had nuts and seeds to being protein-oriented in November, Huck’s saw “tremendous growth in just a few months.” Named Huck’s Butcher Shop, the walk-around rack added 28 SKUs for more variety and draws attention to the big bags.
“We went a lot bigger into high price—the 10-ounces-and-above meat snacks—and then we even added some off-SKUs like chocolate-covered bacon and some different things like that just to get some variety,” Adams said.
Those unconventional and intense flavor options—such as jalapeno, pepper jack, teriyaki and dill pickle—are taking off.
“I think the days are over where people just went in and grabbed the plain old original stick,” Adams said. “They expect some other flavors now. People want to experiment now. They just want something different.”
Honey Barbeque Fatty Smoked Meat Sticks from Sweetwood Smoke & Co., a Steamboat Springs, Colorado-based company, are “blowing out of the store,” said Adams. Even when more flavor means more carbs or sugar, it still appeals to consumers, he said.
“If you give a guy 3 ounces of beef jerky, he eats 3 ounces; If you give him 10, he eats 10.”
On the other side of the coin, some consumers are increasingly conscious of ingredients they are eating. Plano, Texas-based Stryve Foods air dries its meat products, transforming them into a format called biltong, which are lean, clean and better for you, said Chris Boever, CEO of Stryve. The company was formed in late 2017, and the concept contrasts the traditional jerky and stick segment and is unique to the category, said Boever.
“There’s no cooking of the meat; it’s air dried,” said Boever. “The liquids that are contained in it basically get hung on a skewer, and it drains out because we don’t have any broth, we don’t have any water, we don’t have any sugar, we don’t have any nitrates or preservatives that are basically injected and baked into the meat that creates a jerky.”
At Huck’s, healthier meat snacks are a less-explored area.
“I’ve tried some zero-sugar jerkies and zero sugar sticks from quite a few of the bigger companies, and I just don’t get a lot of traction on those,” said Adams. Other brands, such as Chicago-based Think Jerky, are healthier and do well, he said.
While innovating a new manufacturing method, Stryve is also exploring a variety of sizes and formats for its meat snacks by wasting as little product as possible.
“As we cut the trim, we’ll use that to create these air-dried sticks and steak bites, and they’ll have great ingredient statements similar to what the sliced steak will have,” said Boever. “We love the sticks … but if we do little bites, it’s shareable. You can reseal the package, you can graze on it, you can come back, you can get your portability, still get you a protein, and you get it in a slightly different delivery of through packaging ingenuity.”
The category is evolving, said Boever, with more share in the convenience sector and in the mass market.
“We believe [Stryve] is going to help redefine the category in a way that brings not just protein and convenience but also a health and wellness positioning,” said Boever.