US meat snack producer Jack Link’s is planning to increase its production capacity with a major new facility in the UK, in order to achieve its aggressive European growth plans.
The company, which makes Jack Link’s jerky and Peperami, is the largest beef jerky brand in the UK – itself the world’s largest market for meat snacks. It is now aiming to build on its recent performance in continental Europe, following successive years of double-digit growth in the jerky category.
Jack Link’s told FoodBev it was “actively exploring a number of options for investment in the UK, including funding a new greenfield production site, acquisition, and working with another production partner to maximise the worldwide trend for protein snacks”.
Any new production plant in the UK would enable the brand to build a strong competitive advantage and meet its long-term growth projections.
Jan Pieter Schretlen, managing director of Jack Link’s in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “Whilst jerky is a relatively new sub-category of meat snacks in Europe, it is growing rapidly. Sales of our Jack Link’s jerky have more than doubled in the past few years, driven by strong customer demand.
“Protein snacks such as jerky, biltong and salami sticks have a bright future, as millennials and centennials move into high-protein, low-carb snacks as part of a healthy lifestyle.
“Jack Link’s already operates a world-class production site in Ansbach, Germany, producing meat snacks for market-leading brands BiFi in continental Europe and Peperami in the UK. The meat snacking category is predicted to continue accelerating and our plans to invest in the UK will broaden our European production footprint and secure our long-term position as the market leader in jerky and biltong.”
Source: FoodBev.com
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