Meat&Poultry - February 2012 - 47

and Jack Link’s Peppered Beef Jerky,” LeFever says. “Our new Sasquatch Big Sticks line has been performing really well and is driving growth in the sticks segment. Steaks also fi nished the year very strong.” The meat-snacks category is in a strong position for continued growth, given that it meets three key consumer trends in snacking – convenience, healthy choice and satiety, he adds. Although the core of the category remains the millions of outdoorsmen and 20-plus-year-old males, emerging new consumers are important when looking at total category growth, LeFever says. As the category evolved, Jack Link’s has adapted to the changing demands of the emerging, more mainstream consumer. While perceived as a male-dominated snack, almost as many women as men eat Jack Link’s meat snacks, LeFever says. “We have people in every demographic who enjoy Jack Link’s products,” he adds. “We’ve focused on creating products that appeal to young people, men and women of all ages.” Jack Link’s still has a major opportunity to communicate its prod-

ucts’ benefits to a larger, mainstream audience and continue to grow the penetration and frequency of use in the category, he says. Jack Link’s continues to be the innovation leader in the meat snacks category, says Kevin Papacek, brand manager - innovation. “Since 2009, more than 10 percent of our branded-dollar sales volume has come from new products,” he adds. “Jack Link’s continues to develop new f lavors, forms and packaging to meet consumer needs.” New products launched during the past year include Jack Link’s Classics, a new line of sticks and jerky with traditional flavors; Sasquatch Sticks and Steaks, which are line extensions of the Sasquatch Big Snacks line; and the new Furious stick (Hot!) and two new Sasquatch Steaks – Angry (Original) and Zen (Teriyaki). “The entire Sasquatch line brings the fun of our Messin’ with Sasquatch advertising campaign into the real world,” Papacek says. “Products in the Sasquatch line are larger than standard category offerings and have bigger, more intense flavors.” Two new Jack Link’s Steaks line

extensions include Steakhouse Recipe Beef Steak and Oven-Roasted Turkey Steak. And Jack Link’s Cholula Hot Sauce Jerky is a new beef jerky flavor. Hot sauces continue to grow in popularity, and hot flavors are the No. 4 flavor segment for jerky behind Original, Teriyaki and Peppered.

“Since 2009, more than 10 percent of our branded-dollar sales volume has come from new products.”
“We love the flavor of Cholula Hot Sauce – no surprise they’re the fastest growing hot sauce brand. The introduction of Jack Link’s Cholula Beef Jerky is a great example of how two leading brands, in their respective categories, collaborated to introduce a product that delivers on consumer expectations” Papacek says. Jack Link’s constantly introduces new products and tries to attract new users, Troy iterates. “We have many new poultry items coming,” he adds. “And, we have a new line called Big Dippers coming soon. Our Nugget and Tender lines are designed for a

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