The UK's top jerky manufacturer in Europe
Meatsnacks Group is the story of four entrepreneurs who shared a vision of creating great tasting healthy snacks, and a passion for home-grown quality produce. They joined forces to become the UK’s largest manufacturer for jerky and biltong in Europe.
Dried meat jerky has built up a reputation as a snack that’s perfect for men on the go, but the team at Meatsnacks Group wanted to change that perspective. They set out to develop a product that would be appealing to women, and the result was unique, unexpected and appetising.
Today, everyone lives a fast-paced life where time is short and convenience is key. With health and fitness now a huge focus in modern society, finding easy solutions for making better choices are desired, and on-the-go snacks like beef jerky fit the bill. So, when the team looked at replicating their meat-drying process to create something that would be more marketable to women, they knew it would be no easy task.
With shared experience of over 20 years in the industry and innovation as their driver, the directors of Meatsnacks Group attempted to create the UK’s first salmon jerky. Working with such a delicate product like salmon presented a few challenges along the way, but with the help of HIE’s Innovation team, their cohesive vision for a new desirable meat snack was made possible.
Jennifer Macdonald-Nethercott, Marketing Manager for Meatsnacks Group, who joined the company on the cusp of the businesses merging, explains how salmon jerky ticks so many boxes for what consumers are looking for. She said:
“Salmon jerky is a really exciting new product that even after two years of producing, still pleasantly surprises and intrigues people when they discover it. We’ve wanted to create a new product for a while now that would attract a new audience and a fish based snack has helped us achieve this. Not only is it high in protein like our beef and chicken jerky products, but it is also high in Omega 3 and good fats – some key nutrients people are constantly looking to inject more of into their diet.”
With no experience of working with fish, Jennifer’s team had to start from the very beginning. Researching the process, understanding the barriers and creating an environment where they could develop the product would require support from those with expert knowledge which is where HIE stepped in. Jennifer continues:
“Up until a few years ago, we were importing all of our jerky from America, and being able to now have a plant here in the UK has allowed us to have full control over the quality of our products. At the moment, we have a meat and chicken facility in Forres and our new salmon factory is based in Grantown on Spey.
“Innovation for us means being able to offer fresh and interesting products to our customers which is how we came about producing the salmon jerky. This was a completely new journey for the team so being able to tap into the knowledge HIE offers was incomparable.”
