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Industry | Food manufacturing |
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Founded | Minong, Wisconsin, United States (1986 ) |
Founder | John 'Jack' Link |
Headquarters | Minong, Wisconsin, United States of America [1] |
Area served | Worldwide |
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Link Snacks, Inc., better known as Jack Link's Protein Snacks, or simply Jack Link's, is an American [2] snack company best known as the producer and marketer of the eponymous brand of beef jerky. It was founded by John 'Jack' Link in 1986, [3] using his great-grandfather's recipes. [4] They are known for their "Messin' with Sasquatch" ads. [5]
In addition to their original facility in Minong, Wisconsin, the company also has facilities across the Midwest including in New Glarus, Wisconsin; Alpena, South Dakota; Mankato, Minnesota; Laurens, Iowa; and Underwood, Iowa; and its marketing office in Minneapolis. [6] [7]
On April 1, 2014, Jack Link's bought Unilever's meat snack division [8] in an attempt to expand its consumer base into Europe. The purchase includes the BiFi brand, sold across Europe and Peperami, which retails in the UK and Ireland; and the manufacturing unit in Ansbach, Germany.
In addition to traditional beef jerky, the company also manufactures bacon jerky, made with salt-and-sugar cured pork meat.
In 2019 Jack Links acquired the Golden Island brand from Tyson Foods. [9]
In 2013, they signed a sponsorship deal with the Seattle Mariners. [10] In April 2015 Jack Link's Beef Jerky changed its logo "to better represent the brand’s 'Feed Your Wild Side' positioning and overall appeal." [11] This new logo was designed by Davis Design of Mississauga, Ontario. [1] In 2017, Jack Link's extended its "Messin' with Sasquatch" ad campaign to feature NBA player Karl-Anthony Towns. [12] The company also employs a nutritionist, Christina Meyer-Jax, to explain the dietary value of protein as part of their marketing. [13]
In December 2021, six European supermarket chains, including two owned by the Dutch firm Ahold Delhaize and a Carrefour subsidiary, said they would stop selling some or all beef products from Brazil. [14] The companies' decision was made due to suspected ties with the clearing of segments of the Amazon rainforest for local cattle farming. The world's largest meatpacker JBS and Jack Link's each source cattle from Brazil. [15]
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle. Beef can be prepared in various ways; cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often ground or minced, as found in most hamburgers. Beef contains protein, iron, and vitamin B12. Along with other kinds of red meat, high consumption is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease, especially when processed. Beef has a high environmental impact, being a primary driver of deforestation with the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any agricultural product.
Jerky is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dehydrated to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent bacteria growth. The word "jerky" derives from the Quechua word ch'arki which means "dried, salted meat".
Biltong is a form of dried, cured meat which originated in Southern African countries. Various types of meat are used to produce it, ranging from beef to game meats such as ostrich or kudu. The cut may also vary being either fillets of meat cut into strips following the grain of the muscle, or flat pieces sliced across the grain. It is related to beef jerky; both are spiced, dried meats; however the typical ingredients, taste, and production processes may differ.
Hula Hoops are a snack food made out of potatoes and corn in the shape of short, hollow cylinders. They were created by KP Snacks in the United Kingdom in 1973. As well as being sold in the UK, they are also sold in the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa. Hula Hoops are also sold in Belgium under the "Croky" tag, made in the UK but marketed and distributed from Mouscron, Belgium. In France, Hula Hoops are produced by Vico.
Wagyu is the collective name for the four principal Japanese breeds of beef cattle. All wagyū cattle derive from cross-breeding in the early twentieth century of native Japanese cattle with imported stock, mostly from Europe.
Slim Jim is an American meat snack brand sold globally and manufactured by Conagra Brands. Slim Jim snacks are widely available and popular in the United States, generating $575 million in revenue in 2015. About 1 billion Slim Jim snacks are produced annually in at least 21 varieties.
Peperami is a pork jerky snack manufactured by Jack Link's. It is similar to BiFi and is manufactured in Ansbach, Germany, and sold in the United Kingdom, Mexico and the Republic of Ireland, across multiples and independent retailers.
JBS USA Holdings, Inc. is a meat processing company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian multinational JBS S.A. The subsidiary was created when JBS entered the U.S. market in 2007 with its purchase of Swift & Company.
Bigfoot is an alleged human or ape-like cryptid in North America. Since the mid-20th century, Bigfoot has become increasingly relevant in popular culture and is the subject of film, television, advertising, music, literature and more.
Rachel Specter is an American writer, producer, and actress. She was a producer and writer of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015–2019). She began her career as an actress but has since written for TV series like One Tree Hill and Cougar Town, and produced Hyperlinked (2017) and Indebted (2020).
Oberto is an American family-owned business that makes meat snacks including all natural jerky, pepperoni, charcuterie, chicken bites and other smoked meats. The company was founded in 1918 by Constantino Oberto in Seattle, Washington. It is now headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company sells products under the following brand names: Oberto, Oberto Classics, Lowrey's Meat Snacks, Pacific Gold Beef Jerky and Cattleman's Cut brands.
Cargill Meat Solutions is a subsidiary of the Minneapolis-based multinational agribusiness giant Cargill Inc, that comprises Cargill's North American beef, turkey, food service and food distribution businesses. Cargill Meat Solutions' corporate office is located in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Jody Horner is the division's president.
JBS S.A. is a Brazilian company that is the largest meat processing enterprise in the world, producing factory processed beef, chicken, salmon, pork, and also selling by-products from the processing of these meats. It is headquartered in São Paulo. It was founded in 1953 in Anápolis, Goiás.
BiFi is a brand of meat snacks owned by the American snack company Jack Link's. BiFi Roll and BiFi Carazza are the most popular BiFi products besides BiFi Original. Up to this day, the meat snacks are still manufactured in the original facilities of "Schafft Fleischwerke" in Ansbach, Germany.
Walkers Snack Foods Limited, trading as Walkers, is a British snack food manufacturer mainly operating in the UK and Ireland. The company is best known for manufacturing potato crisps and other snack foods. In 2013, it held 56% of the British crisp market. Walkers was founded in 1948 in Leicester, England, by Henry Walker. The Walkers family sold the business in 1970 to American food producer, Standard Brands. In 1989, Walkers was acquired by PepsiCo, owners of US snack brand Frito-Lay.
National Beef is a beef processor headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, that produces fresh, chilled and further processed beef and beef by-products for customers worldwide. The company is owned by the Brazilian multinational Marfrig. Its main focuses include branded box beef, consumer ready beef, portion control beef and wet blue leather. The company is considered one of the modern "big four" beef packers in the United States.
Monogram Foods is a privately held, Memphis, Tennessee-based, manufacturer and marketer of packaged and value-added foods. The company, which distributes its products nationwide, operates manufacturing and distribution facilities in Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Monogram Foods manufactures a number of items, including beef jerky, corn dogs, frozen appetizers, assembled sandwiches, and baked goods.
The meat industry has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Outbreaks of the virus took place in factories operated by the meat packing industry and the poultry processing industry. These outbreaks affected dozens of plants, leading to closures of some factories and disruption of others, and posed a significant threat to the meat supply in the United States. The damage the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the meatpacking industry was unexpected and resulted in a sharp reduction of meat processing and capacity reduction of meatpacking companies.
Bacon jerky is an American snack made out of smoked, thick cut bacon. It is often flavored with maple syrup, barbecue sauce or sriracha. Although it is named after jerky, it is not prepared the same way. Traditional jerky is marinated and dried, bacon jerky is just smoked or dehydrated.
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